Cheval en Nîmes

One of the reasons I decided to start this challenge, after years thinking about it, is because I am on holiday in France. Every time I come to France I hunt down one of my favourite meats; Horse.  Don't let the thought of eating Red Rum put you off this, it is really worth a try.  I believe it is also available in the UK from specialist suppliers.

Horse is a red meat that looks a little like a lean cut of Beef.  It does also taste a bit beefy but with a little liver twang.  A bit like venison but with a more open texture,

I picked up this horse steak in the supermarket and tonight we will be eating in our bijou apartment on the outskirts of Nîmes.

The kitchen is small so the preparation is going to be simple and French.

An "amuse bouche" of pate croute with cornichons. If you have never experienced this, think festival pie, without the pork and egg but with pate inside.  Very good.

Fried Horse steak with a simple salad.

I have some fresh lettuce, cucumber, large beefsteak tomatoes and French breakfast radishes which i will serve with the steak, cooked rare.

Nîmes is famous for its own favourite meat.  I will be sampling this later in the week, I hope.

52 meats in 52 weeks

OK here we go.  This is something i have been meaning to try for some time, but haven't really got round to it.

The challenge is simply to attempt to get through 52 types of meat in one calendar year.  The thing that has been troubling me is the definition of "type of meat" and maybe even the definition of "meat".  Seems simple on the surface but does seem to present some problems.

To this end i will define "meat" and "type of meat" for this challenge.

Meat

Meat is the edible part of any animal, bird, reptile or insect.

Type of meat

This is where it gets subtle.  Because this is intended as a voyage of discovery and my game, I don't want to be too limiting for the sake of it, some people may disagree.  It's my game and my rules.

So for example, I will define Lamb, Mutton and Hoggart as 3 different types of meat even though they are clearly all sheep.  The same goes for Bull, beef and veal.  Pork and wild Boar will also be considered seperate.  Preparations will be excluded, so Bacon is a preparation of pork (unless I decide otherwise or they are particularly interesting.

If i decide i will eat something weird (think duck feet or cows eyeballs etc) I will not count them, but i may write about them for interest.

I will try to post at least a picture of each meat or meal, if not a recipe if I have prepared it at home.

In the coming weeks I will also prepare an aspirational list of target meats.  I may need help!

The clock will start when I publish my first post.