Paul Kitching: There'll be no horses for courses in my restaurant

Like most of us, I've watched Ant and Dec's Bushtucker Trials; squirmed, covered my eyes, held my belly and gasped with horror as the I'm a Celebrity. . . contestants are encouraged to drop slimy creatures into their mouths.

Give me a fillet steak, a prime cut of lamb or some smoked salmon any day of the week. As entertaining for TV viewers as it may be, the bizarre bugs and animal parts the celebrities reluctantly tuck into would never make it on to my dinner plate. No thank you.

And that is for one very good reason - I do not live in the Bush.

The food we eat, and whether or not it is "acceptable" to do so, is relative to our environment, traditions and relationships with the animals in question.

Are you tempted by the crocodile meat on sale at a Gorgie butcher's shop? Vote here

What may make me, sitting in the comfort of my Edinburgh home, screw my face up with horror, may be a Bush person's delicacy, and vice-versa. Tell one of them that we here in Edinburgh enjoy scallops, for example, and they may be repulsed. It's all relative, isn't it?

So, crocodile meat is coming to Edinburgh. African butcher Shumba Meats in Gorgie is to start stocking it, along with springbok and impala.

I don't mind, don't mind at all. There is nothing wrong whatsoever with this, but I am not confident it is a product that will catch on within the wider Edinburgh public.

OK, there will be sections of the African community that may be eager to buy the meat. For them, it may be a taste of home, an indigenous dish their ancestors for generations before them cooked and enjoyed.

But I believe it is unlikely many Edinburgh restaurants will choose to put crocodile on their menus. I for one know my customers would not want it and I would not use it.

I think this boils down to what we deem to be acceptable, according to the relationships we have with different animals.

For example, here in Scotland, there are things we just do not eat, including dogs and horses. This largely boils down to tradition, as well as exposure to these animals. Many of us will have been on holiday to the likes of Spain or Greece where we may have eaten dishes such as swordfish, or perhaps shark. Along with Feta cheese, and indeed drinking ouzo, it then becomes acceptable to enjoy such dishes here at home, because we are familiar with them. Very few of us will have had the opportunity to go to Africa and taste crocodile, though.

When it comes to tradition, take horses - noble creatures that have a special place in our hearts and culture. Few people would therefore be keen on tucking into a cut of them in a restaurant.

Did you know, 17 million horses were killed during the First World War? And they were only there, if you like, doing our bidding.

It was horses that drove this country forward for centuries and did our heavy work for us. They were our steam engines long before the steam engine was invented. I just don't understand why anyone would want to eat a horse, at least not if they are British.

In France, it is different because they have a tradition of eating horse, but there is no such tradition in this country. It is totally alien to us and I think it should stay that way.

The list of other such animals with a strong emotional connection to humans in Britain is endless. While we do not share a historic, emotional bond with cows and lambs, we do with dogs and will therefore never see them served up in homes, or restaurants. In China, of course, it is a different story.

In many countries, it is acceptable to hunt, kill and eat foxes, yet here it is not as they are historically considered to be rodents. We do not eat them for that reason, not because their meat isn't nice.

In my opinion, nothing in Scotland in the next million years will replace lamb, beef, salmon or pork when it comes to popular meats - certainly not crocodile.

Because there are so many wonderful cuts of meat and fish here, I am not sure why any chef would want to introduce the likes of crocodile to his or her menu. Along with meats such as ostrich, kangaroo, snake or scorpion it is fine in the countries where they are indigenous, but here in the capital city? No, I'm not keen. If you think of all the tourists that flock to Edinburgh every year, it is unlikely they will be eager to try crocodile, springbok or impala. Our traditional dishes will win hands down, every time.

It is the case, though, that some things stick and maybe I will be proved wrong when it comes to crocodile. Think of bananas arriving in Britain? Kiwi fruits? Avocados? I am sure some people thought they were just a fad.

And it is also the case that while we squirm at what some cultures eat, sometimes there are closer comparisons to be drawn with home soil than perhaps we initially appreciate. I remember a man telling me once how during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, where he was in the GB hockey team, he was served a meal one evening in a lovely porcelain dish. When he took the lid off, the meal comprised egg white and a live tadpole, swimming around in the liquid. Yuck? Maybe, but is it really any different to us eating oysters? It's just pure protein, after all.

I am not wishing to be controversial, and I offer the Gorgie butcher all the best of luck with this new venture, but I won't be making snappy orders of crocodile meat any time soon.

Paul Kitching is the Michelin-starred chef of 21212 on Royal Terrace

Mmmm, tasty..

Shumba Meats, Gorgie Road: Crocodile, zebra, springbok and impala meat

L'Escargot Bleu, Broughton Street: Horse steak

Khublai Khan's, Assembly Street: Kangaroo haggis

China Town Chinese Restaurant, Atholl Place: Jelly Fish Salad

Edinburgh Farmers' Market: Ostrich and water buffalo meat