Horse meat gained widespread acceptance in French cuisine during the later years of the Second French Empire. The high cost of living in Paris prevented many working-class citizens from buying meat such as pork or beef, so in 1866, the French government legalized the eating of horse meat, and the first butcher's shop specializing in horse meat opened in eastern Paris, providing quality meat at lower prices. During the Siege of Paris (1870–1871), horse meat, along with the meat from donkeys and mules, was eaten by anyone who could afford it, partly because of a shortage of fresh meat in the blockaded
Horse meat horse meat ("paardenrookvlees") is sold as sliced meat and eaten on bread. "Zuurvlees", a southern Dutch stew, is made with horse meat as main ingredient. There are also beef-based variants. Horse meat is also used in sausages ("paardenworst" and "frikandel"), fried fast food snacks and ready-to-eat soups. In Norway, horse meat is commonly used in cured meats, such as "vossakorv" and "svartpølse", and less commonly as steak, "hestebiff". In pre-Christian Norway, horse was seen as an expensive animal. To eat a horse was to show one had great wealth, and to sacrifice a horse to the gods was seen as