Horse on the menu a first for Scotland

L'Escargot Bleu, in the city's New Town, is thought to be the first eatery in Scotland to serve up the controversial choice.

Owner Fred Berkmiller, who opened the Broughton Street bistro last year, is offering two different steak dishes.

Berkmiller, who is from near Avignon and previously worked at the Abstract and Atrium restaurants in the capital, said: "I'm not pushing people to eat horse, but I eat it regularly.

"It is tender, sweet and less fatty than beef, and contains higher levels of iron and omega 3.

"Every time I go home, my father makes me a horse steak tartare. It's so delicious I want my Scottish customers to taste it too."

The menu features pan-fried horse rump steak served with a peppercorn sauce, or horse meat steak tartare prepared with raw duck egg yolk.

He orders the meat from a major food market in Paris via West Lothian-based supplier Campbell's Prime Meats.

Stevie Walker, director of Campbell's, said: "I've been asked to source some unusual items in my time, but this is the first time I've ever been asked for horse meat."

One customer, Gordon Millan, said: "I think the difference between horse meat and beef is the texture rather than the flavour.

"I wouldn't say it's tougher. I'd say it's more muscular"

But Glasgow butcher Vincent Ford said: "Horse meat is not something we eat in Scotland.

"People are squeamish enough about the thought of eating a wee lamb, never mind a horse."

Some 70,000 horses are eaten in France every year, with an estimated 4.7 million believed to be consumed around the world every year.