The French haven’t always eaten horsemeat. Prior to 1866 the practice of hippophagy (“horse-eating”) was banned. Its introduction was largely due to one man: Émile Decroix, a military veterinarian, who argued that surplus horses could help alleviate hunger among the Parisian population.

Decroix is commemorated by a bust in the Parc Georges Brassens, the site of the old horsemeat market: Les Abattoirs de Vaugirard.