Alton Brown Says His Last Meal Needs Fries Prepared With This Controversial Ingredient

It is not surprising that a man who has as much food experience and knowledge as Alton Brown would have some very specific requests for his last meal. But chef Josh Scherer from the YouTube channel Mythical Kitchen couldn't quite deliver when he sat down with Brown to eat those foods as part of a 50-minute interview. One ingredient was deemed too taboo for the celebrity's final meal: horse fat.

During the segment, "Alton Brown Eats His Last Meal," the TV personality and author began his request by saying, "I'm gonna have a London dry gin martini. I would prefer this to be stirred by my wife, who seems to be magical on this department. ... And I'm hoping to have that with French fries." That sounded innocent enough until it was followed up with, "I'd originally asked for them to be cooked in horse fat." Brown understood what made his choice fries controversial but added, "Because killing a cow is apparently so much better than killing a horse."

For cultural and historical reasons, the prospect of consuming horses is virtually unthinkable in the U.S. Horses are seen as companion animals, like cats or dogs, which are also considered too taboo to eat. Equines were integral to westward expansion and warfare, and they continue to be used in ranching today. They are also employed recreationally for riding, shows, rodeo, and so on. But it would be nearly impossible to find horse meat in the U.S. In fact, the federal government outlawed selling it for human consumption without inspections, and legislators have not funded or helped facilitate such safety checks.

French fry aficionados and readers of Alton Brown's 2006 book "I'm Just Here for the Food" might not be surprised at all by his last meal request. He makes a point of noting in his book that Belgians cook fries in horse fat. In France, people have traditionally used it for frying potatoes as well. The practice is not much different from using beef tallow or lard.

The taste of horse meat has been likened to a cross between beef. However, it's a bit sweeter. Similar to beef, the protein gets turned into steaks and eaten in sandwiches. In Japan, people also enjoy it as sashimi and in hot pots. Likewise, horse fat is used in much the same way as beef tallow and will probably taste sweeter like the meat.

Although getting your hands on horse fat may be difficult depending on where you live, some folks would consider it an experiment worth trying. One such person who posted about their own attempt at making fries with horse fat reported on Flickr, "Years later, I'm still singing the praises of the horse fat fries." They added that the effort "is worth it."