Sunday, 10 February 2013

Horsemeat: where's the beef?


Unbridled flavour

Thanks to recent government tests, we at last know the shocking truth that half the food in Britain actually consists almost entirely of horsemeat.

It turns out that the Aldi shepherd’s pie I enjoyed yesterday evening couldn’t have contained more horse DNA if it had taken it up the arse all night from Black Beauty.

So it seems it’s not even safe to tuck into a plate of mashed potato these days without checking it first for mane hairs and chunks of hoof. Unless it’s Halal cuisine served up in a British prison, of course, in which case you need to be keeping your eyes peeled for trotters and a curly tail.

I can’t say I’m entirely surprised that it was the French who shipped us this disgusting shite. People who routinely put molluscs, amphibians and unshaved beaver into their mouths are hardly likely to turn a hair when faced with a dish of dobbin tartare. The only thing that really shocks me is that they wanted to send it over here instead of eating it all themselves and belching loudly across the channel.

A Romanian peasant enjoys a picnic
Surprisingly reluctant to take the blame for this culinary scandal entirely upon their own broad shoulders, our Gallic cousins have nobly decided to point an accusing finger at the organised crime-free, social utopia that is Eastern Europe. Why the hell not, you ask?

Well, I’m sure there are villages near the Russian border where tucking into a nag omelette is a great way to celebrate a wedding, but why there should suddenly be half a million dead horses ready for the table over there, I’m not exactly sure. If it’s true, there must be a gigantic stable next to a meat packing factory somewhere in Romania where they’re herding the bloody things into a chute around the clock.

And come to think of it, why would European Union food inspectors notice anything suspicious? Especially if there’s a hand painted sign on the rusty gates that helpfully proclaims:  “Is nothing to see here. EU spies please be go away thank you or we kill.”

Yep, there seems to be so much equine based protein in the British food chain now, that I think all we can do is just get used to it. We must learn to look forward to popping into KFC for some Suffolk Punch nuggets, or visiting MacDonald’s to try the new Hindquarter pounder, where kids can go large with filly fries, a foal flavoured fizzy drink and amuse themselves with a complimentary plastic donkey called Yumyum.

Check out the gift section
Of course, language will have to evolve. It won’t be long before you hear people sighing: I’m so hungry I could eat a Findus Lasagne, there’s no point flogging an Iceland readymeal, Aldi bolognese sauces for courses etc…

But don’t despair there’s always an upside: the next time your daughter relentlessly badgers you for a pony for her birthday, just fry her up a burger from Tesco and stick a candle in it.