Belgians Love Their Draft Horses And Are Proud To Eat Them, Too

VILVOORDE, Belgium - Sitting under yellowing posters glorifying the mighty Belgian draft horse, gourmets from far and wide have come to De Kuiper's to savor sweet, pungent horse tenderloins braised in their own fat.

"If you love horses, you should eat them, too," said Alfons Gulickx, owner of De Kuiper's restaurant. Customers here indulge heartily in the great Belgian culinary tradition - though they acknowledge having mixed emotions about it.

"It hurts to eat such a nice animal, but yes, a horse is made to die," said Rik Eylenbosch, sinking his knife into a thick, dark prime cut.

Last month, the U.S. government began investigating a government adoption program for wild horses after The Associated Press reported that many of the animals were winding up in slaughterhouses for export - including to Belgium.

De Kuiper is in the heart of Belgium's Brabant region, where people have long taken pride in the sturdy local carthorses. A bronze statue of one graces a city square.

Playing off its reputation for reliability and industriousness, Jean-Luc Dehaene campaigned as "Your Brabant Draughthorse" in his successful bid for prime minister.

But adoration of the animal does not get in the way of dining on it - along with a side of fries.

"De Kuiper: Major specialist of horse steaks since 1859," a wooden sign above the red brick restaurant proudly proclaims, drawing everyone from pensioners to celebrities.

Considered repugnant in many countries, horse meat is a delicacy in parts of the world. In Japan, horse meat recipes date back at least four centuries. Raw slabs are eaten with soy sauce, wasabi paste, ground ginger, chives and other garnishes to produce a horse sashimi.

Horse meat also is a tradition in France and Switzerland, but so ingrained is its Belgian reputation that a Polish horse-meat sausage is called "Belgijska."

Apart from the tender steaks, Belgians turn the horse meat into stews cooked in beer or vinegar with onions and carrots, and an array of sausages and smoked hams.

"It is the summit of red-meat perfection," said Dirk De Prins, a culinary expert and writer on Belgian cooking. Fans point out that horse has less fat than beef, while some European consumers note that horse meat contains no risk of "mad cow" disease.

But for every nation that has taken to the meat, there are plenty that haven't.

In Britain, for example, it is definitely a non-starter. Belgo Centraal is a trendy London restaurant featuring all things Belgian from beer and mussel dishes to the creamy chicken stew known as waterzooi. But horse meat is not on the menu.

"It's quite unacceptable in Britain," said Belgo's Mary Norman. "They're seen more as pets as anything."

In India, the land of curries, many people worship "Mother Cow" and will not touch beef. But few see horse meat as an alternative.

"There is so much to eat, why even think of the poor horse?" said New Delhi shipping executive Ajay Bhatnagar.

People have enjoyed eating horse meat through the ages - from the Celts to the Mongols, who also rode them across the steppe. Hunters in prehistoric France once earned their dinners by chasing horses to their death over Solutre rock.

In Medieval Europe, the pope tried to ban the eating of horse, and governments also have tried to stamp out the tradition. But it has continued partly because, until recently, it was cheap.

That is changing, even in Belgium. Prices can now exceed those of prime beef. The standard steak at De Kuiper costs $16.

Importer Bart Teugels says U.S. imported horse steaks can cost as much as $14 a pound, largely because of transport costs.

Robert Peeters, the sole remaining horse-meat butcher in Vilvoorde, which long had Belgium's biggest market for draft horses, says he'll close up in a few years.

When he started in 1946, he processed a horse a day into sausages, steaks and hams. He made the rounds of the local farms and had plenty of product.

But now he has to travel up to 100 miles to find his meat, as draft horses steadily gave way to tractors.

"Tractors make lousy sausages," he said.