It’s a Horse of Course!
There is a running joke amongst Norwegians that they eat anything and everything, so when Moose said the family in Alta ate the horse I thought he was just horsing around. Nope. I didn’t believe at first because of his casualness or the Norwegian thrill to shock outlanders with their own outlandish habits, but it only took the second ‘yeah, they ate Sjurmin – Sherman the Horse, of course’ that I had to pull over the car.
‘Did your family eat the horse?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Do they normally eat horse?’
‘When theres one around.’
Moose went on to explain to me how tender Sjurmin was as he had been sitting in a paddock for way too long.
I’m still a little shaken, even by writing this post by the thought of my family sitting round the kitchen table eating a nice horse stroganoff. But a Norwegian-type of thought has just popped into my mind: why do we think it is ok only to eat ugly animals? Horses are considered beautiful, majestic creatures by many cultures – especially by the English-culture. However, other cultures see horses as a source of food. Sjurmin was way past his prime (he used to be a race horse), and probably past his use-by date. He had lived a very good life on the farm. He was well loved and cared for, and was visited every day. Sjurmin even served the community at Christmas time with one-horse-open-sleigh rides and was often hired for weddings. The neighbourhood kids used to come over and play with Sjurmin, brushing his coat, going for rides and helping him exercise. So rather than waiting until he dies and hauling the carcass to ‘the glue factory’, it strangely seems better to enjoy Sjurmin one last time with family and friends. (Although, Sjurmin was on the heavy side so I guess there will be at least three or four other special meal times to remember him.)
Subscribe
RSS
The sun never goes down during this season but the mountains to the East are so high that the sun still has to raise above them in the morning hours and an artificial dawn-effect wakes the city.
Towards the water in a beautiful pocket of leafy oak trees is the Byneset Church.
The further ‘out of the way’ you go the more common it is to see folk cottages standing by the side of roads, along fjords or in a thicket of trees, minding their own business. 
Ugh! They actually ATE a horse?!? I gotta tell you, I grew up and lived in Norway for 20 years and I’ve NEVER heard of a Norwegian eating horsemeat. Yuck! Lol on the horse being enjoyed one last time.
Hestepølse (horse sausage) is fairly common.
____________________
from L-Jay:
Yeah, I think it is the most popular way of eating horse in Norway. In Oz people think horse sausages are a myth…lol.
This is horrible! What do they do with grandma when she gets past her “prime”? What a thanks for a life time of service.
____________________
from L-Jay:
It seems like English-speakers are a little shocked (as I was at first) but the problem is (I think) English-speakers expect everyone to be like them. English-speakers think Western countries have/should have an ‘English-speaking’ culture. But the fact is, they don’t. Nobody (who is a meat eater) says ‘poor lamb’ or ‘poor chicken’ or ‘poor fish’. In fact, most English-speakers don’t wait until lambs, chickens and fish have a good long life with running in green fields and eating all the fresh grass and vegies – nope, most English-speakers only wait for these animals to be under a year old (chickens three months with all the steroids) before sending them to a slaughter house.
In Vietnam it is common to eat dogs, in North Africa it is common to eat camels, in Australia we eat our national symbol – the Kangaroo. In Alaska bears are eaten. In India snakes are eaten. In North Australia crocodiles are eaten. Whales are eaten in the Arctic regions. Horses in Iceland are actually farmed for eating – a tradition from the Viking age.
Some people can eat cows but never a horse – why? What is the difference between eating a horse or a cow apart from taste – they both can be ridden, the are both considered spiritual beings in religion (horse for American Indian and cow for Hindus), they both are herbivores (whereas sheep are actually known to hunt down and eat meat!) and they are both ‘working’ animals. Now I don’t really see what the big problem it.
But it does remind me a little of the Simpsons episode of when Homer loved his pet lobster, Pinchy, but couldn’t resist eating him…lol – after accidently giving him a hot bath. Homer could have just buried his pet but why waste it. So Homer ate his pet with tears in his eyes.
That’s funny, eating the family pet, ha ha. I made a point of trying horse when I went to Norway. It was nice, although I only tried it cured.
Personally, I can’t see the difference between eating a horse and eating a cow.
As an American and a horse lover, I can’t help but be appalled at how we as a nation are now treating our horses after having outlawed their slaughter in our country. We have doomed so many of these wonderful animals to terrible deaths by starvation, or worse, slaughter in Mexico. It would be better to eat our new surplus or to ship them overseas where they might be used than to subject them to fates worse than death where they are now.
____________________
from L-Jay
I must admit I get really annoyed at the treatment of horses (and other animals) when I see shows like Animal Cops Houston on Animal Planet. I am also concerned about the mass production techniques of slaughterhouses.
Actually, I have never seen horses so round as in Norway. It might be because of the breed (they come from Iceland which has pure-bred, short, stumpy, horses) but over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that Norwegians love all their animals. Visits in the Winter from moose and deer are most welcome – even though they are a source of food, they are appreciated for their beauty and nature. And Norway has the most humane restrictions and rules about the slaughtering of animals in the world and apparently this is what makes the meat not taste so good as other places – but they suffer through…lol.
Hi there!
I am a Portuguese living in Stord (Hordaland) and I found your fine blog full of excellent information. This post left me a bit shaken… I wasn’t at all expecting that fate for the poor horse. But like you said… each country has its traditions one has to respect.
I have one (of a thousand…) question(s): You said that “Norwegians (…) eat anything and everything”. So, how come I don’t see rabbit meat, duck, squid or even octopus for sale on supermarkets? Is it totally impossible here in Norway? I can find turkey (awfully expensive…) and chicken (how I wished to find organic-farm-grown if you know what I mean…) and pork and cow but nothing else. If I want octopus or squid I have to search (a lot!) in Thai stores….. and it’s not that easy to find them…
So, please reply to a hungry Portuguese girl adapting-herself-and-her-family-to-the-Norwegian-beautiful-country!
P.S. – I’ll leave the other 999 questions for later! Thank you and cheers!
____________________
from Moose:
You may be able to find squid at fish markets – it’s hard to come by in supermarkets (as is horse
).
A lot of our food is wild. When we say Norwegians eat anything, we mean food that is naturally found here abundantly (we don’t have too many snakes, so they’d be wiped out if we started eating them). It’s only through recent globalisation that other foods have been introduced. Rabbits and octopus are not naturally found in Norway. In fact, our famous grøt was traditionally made from wheat or barley, not rice. We have lots of ducks, but migrating birds have a tendency to bring disease so Norwegians are cautious. That being said – I have eaten mallard from our duck pond in Alta and it was niiice!
A lot of foods can’t be found in stores because Norwegians are used to catching or picking it themselves. Look out when there’s a market on, you may find something you like. Why not try hare, snow grouse or reindeer? Hard to come by in stores, but you’ll find it at restaurants.
While I’ve not had horse-meat, I’ve had whale, and I still laugh at the way people react when you mention it. What made it even more interesting was I had the whale while I was on holiday, visiting my relatives in Aust-Agder, and I lived in South Africa at the time. There they are *very* passionate about “saving the whales”, and if I had mentioned eating them, I would have been lynched. They even have car bumper stickers that read “Save a whale – harpoon a fat chick”!!
PS. I ordered one of your gorgeous calendars, and it arrived yesterday. The photos are beautiful, and I shall definitely enjoy using it!!
_____________________
from L-Jay:
As mentioned in other comments, people tend to not eat cute things or ‘beautiful’ things. But they do think it is ok to eat ugly things like chickens, fish, cows etc. I’ve never seen people holding signs saying ‘save the chickens!’ lol.
The whales that are hunted in Norway are nowhere near being endangered. If Norwegians didn’t eat them the the whales would turn into the rabbits of the sea…lol, as they don’t have any natural enemies. I wonder if the ‘sign holders’ saw how ugly these whales were whether they would shout so loud to save them ? 
Most people think whales are beautiful – the big blue whales or sperm whales with their tales – so it’s hard for people to think about eating them. But the whales around the Norwegian coastline are real ugly and because of it, don’t get much publicity. Actually, these whales are considered by Norwegians ‘swimming cows’! lol. They have a joke here: If whales are so intelligent, how come they swim so close to the Norwegian coast?
By the way, I’ve never tried whale. But I’ve smelt it…lol. Pew-eee!
Also, glad you liked the calendar!
I think this is more of a difference between the city and the farms than a cultural difference between Norwegians and others. I’ve seen farms in the UK bottle-rear lambs that are abandoned by their mothers, and name their cows -and they all still get eaten when the time comes!
____________________
from L-Jay:
In Norway you can get horse sausages, whale, seal etc in all the big cities. The only real pets in the city are cats, dogs etc – but thats just because cows don’t fit in their apartments…lol. But just 20mins out of Oslo city (which in most countries you are still in the city when you’re 20mins out…lol) the farmers there also season their pets
.
(In Alta, our family only lives a 5min drive from the city centre!)
Thank you for the lovely website! I’ve enjoyed reading about Norway, and, since my grandmother was half-Norwegian, you have given me a lot of insight into my heritage.
However, I’m not sure that I could ever eat a horse. I understand that, under the skin and everything, it’s all just meat anyway, but … I just don’t think I could eat a horse!! I’d be the weird neighbor that would have it put down (like I would with a dog or a cat), and then bury it in the backyard or in a horse or pet cemetery!!
____________________
from L-Jay:
lol – burying the horse would take a mighty effort – you’d need to hire a digger. It would be much easier just to eat it lol. Unfortunately there are no ‘pet’ cemeteries here. One thing that they’d probably do in Oz is make it into ‘blood and bone’ manure which is a concept never heard of in Norway. But I guess if you did bury the horse you’d get years of brilliant roses if you planted a garden over it.
Though, on an obscure note: Is there any difference in a human, an animal or a plant using the horse as food? lol.
How old was that Horse? Was he around in 1993? In the winter? If so, I’m glad I knew him.