Deep End Decade: 2014 - Year of the Horse, Of Course, Of Course. No, I Have Never Eaten One...Yet.

Year of the Horse Celebration at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA.

The Year of the Horse has come around once again. Back in 2002, the last time we experienced a horse year, it was a water horse. In 2014, the "element" represented is wood, but not just any wood, green wood. So, specifically, it's the Year of the Green Wood Horse. As in Lee Greenwood. Not really.

Last year, when it was the Year of the Snake, I sat down to an epic meal of boa constrictor at Hop Woo in LA's Chinatown. Hop Woo's chef/owner Lupe Liang is famous for his exotic ingredients like snake.

However, it's unlikely that I'll be ringing in the Year of the Horse by dining on horse meat. It's still illegal in the U.S. to do so. I could conceivably board a plane and head over to Toronto's La Palette for a very French Canadian horse heart poutine that's off the menu, although horse tenderloin is on the menu.

Horses are awesome animals and I'd probably have a hard time eating one while thinking about how great they are, but then I'd be discriminating against the other animals I consume. So there it is. If I come across horse in a restaurant this Year of the Horse, I'll order it. At least horses are not endangered. I know, cold comfort to the horse.

My kingdom for some horse tartare.