Northamptonshire pub to serve 100% horse meat burger

The national debate about the make-up of meat products has been one that has run and run, but Russell Proctor, who runs The George at Tiffield, has given it new legs after he decided to serve up horse meat burgers.

Mr Proctor, whose pub is situated only a few miles from Towcester Racecourse, said: “I’ve done it as a bit of a laugh for my customers really.

“The idea came from a conversation last week when some of the customers said they’d like to try horse meat in a burger.

“We serve our own home-made burgers and the customers were joking about how much horse was in them.

“I said I would get some in so they could try it. I suspect some of them might pull out on the night.

“It is a one-off at the moment, but if it goes well, we will do it again.

“There’s no problem with eating horse as long as people know what they are eating.”

Mr Proctor drove to Ripley, in North Yorkshire, to buy the meat, and said it would be cheaper than beef if it was more readily available.

He said: “I’ve never dealt with it before in my life, but in the last three days I’ve learned a lot about it.

“It has more good fats in than beef and is nutritionally better. It is totally different to work with as a chef. The taste is slightly sweeter than beef.”

The burgers will be served from 6pm tomorrow and will be priced around £7. The varieties include a plain Red Rum burger, a Shergar burger with cheese, and a Nijinski with cheese and bacon.

Mr Proctor said: “I really don’t know how it is going to go. We’re either not going to sell any or we’re going to sell out.”

Read John Griff – page 31