By Alexander Penn
IT SEEMS the horse meat scandal hasn’t put off Hackney locals as horse burgers at a Dalston pub sold out in under six days, giving the boozer its most successful week ever.
The Three Compasses on Dalston Lane was set to sell the meat for a special one-off week but had to stop early after selling out.
Almost 170 burgers were sold, 50 of which went within the first three hours on the first night last Tuesday.
The Lord Nelson pub in Southwark has been selling horse burgers since the start of the month, at a rate of 100 a week.
But Michael Brown, the Three Compasses’ chef, said his pub had “nearly doubled” this figure.
“Eating horse meat is catching on and I’m sure lots of people will be doing it over the next year. I hope we’ve done our part in bringing it to the family table,” he said.
Mr Brown said that some customers couldn’t tell the difference from beef.
He said: “In light of the horse meat scandal, people want to come and try the meat for real. Horse meat’s cheaper than beef because of demand, so it would be cheaper overall for families.
“British eating is boring. Anything other than chicken, lamb, beef or pork is deemed ‘alternative’ or ‘different’.
“I think it will become a household thing. It’s just another meat to eat.”
The special horse burger menus, designed with a spoof of toy brand ‘My Little Pony’, advertised such variations as the ‘Shetland’, a mini burger, and the ‘Trojan’, a triple. Prices ranged from £4 to £11.
The horse meat was sourced from nationally-regulated provider Kezie Foods which specialises in exotic meats. It is “less fatty and more flavoursome” than beef.
While Mr Brown got the idea for his menu from the discovery of equine DNA in supermarket beef burgers earlier this year, he also sought inspiration from his upbringing in Gloucestershire.
“I grew up in a house where my mum and sister were horse-mad and it carried some problems. It brought financial strain and a lot of time was spent looking after them. I thought, at that point, if you can’t beat them, eat them,” he said.
But the 31-year-old chef, part of pop-up burger outlet StephenFriesBurgers, said he won’t be dishing up any more horse for the time being to avoid becoming a “one-trick pony”.
He said: “There’s a possibility in the future of getting more horse in but we’re going to give it a rest for a bit.
“I’m a brave eater and so are our customers. Watch this space, you never know what trick we’ve got up our sleeves.”
