hold your horses

I may or may not have accidentally eaten horse meat the other night.  We were at a brasserie on the Seine near Notre Dame after a long, long day of sight seeing with Sparkle & Pop (my in-laws.)  I was really in the mood for a hamburger.  On the menu, I saw "Hamburger à Cheval" which was described as a hamburger with a fried egg on top.  "Cheval" means horse in French, so I asked the waiter if the dish was made with beef or with horse meat.  "Beef," he clearly said.


When he brought my plate, the burger was just that, a hamburger patty with a fried egg on top.  NO BUN.  No bun?  Really?  According to the Epicurious online food dictionary, a hamburger is supposed to have a bun.

hamburger
1. Said to have made its first appearance at the St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904, the hamburger is one of America's favorite foods. It consists of a cooked patty of ground beef sandwiched between two bread halves, usually in the form of a HAMBURGER BUN. 
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When I asked for a bun, he would not give me one.  That's what got me thinking that he had lied about it being horse meat.  He seemed like the type to lie about something like that, just for kicks.  


Anyway, as it turns out, my suspicions were unfounded.  I did some more internet research and found this:

Other dishes include the “hamburger de cheval” which is NOT a burger made from horse meat.   It is a hamburger with a fried egg on top and is so named because the egg is deemed to be “the rider” of the horse!

What a relief!  Anyway, I tried another burger when we went out for lunch yesterday in Paris.  Let's just say that there is a reason the French are not known for their burgers.  Next time, I'll stick with the French Onion Soup!

cruise on the Seine 30 minutes before eating "horse"

horsing around

galloping gourmets

à bientôt!