Steak tartare

Steak tartare

Steak tartare with raw egg, capers and onions
Main ingredients	raw beef
Cookbook: Steak tartare   Media: Steak tartare

Steak tartare is a meat dish made from finely chopped or minced raw beef. Tartare can also be made by thinly slicing a high grade of meat such as strip steak, marinating it in wine or other spirits, spicing it to taste, and then chilling it. It is often served with onions, capers and seasonings (the latter typically incorporating fresh ground pepper and Worcestershire sauce), sometimes with a raw egg, and often on rye bread.

History

A popular legend is that the dish is named after the nomadic Tatar people of the Central Asian steppes, who ate raw meat as they rode their horses because they did not have time to stop and cook. A variation of this story is that the meat was kept under the horse's saddles to be tenderized by the day's riding.

In fact, steak tartare got its name from tartar sauce . It was first served in French restaurants early in the 20th century. What is now generally known as "steak tartare" was then called steak à l'Americaine. Steak tartare was a variation on that dish; the 1921 edition of Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire defines it as steak à l'Americaine made without egg yolk, served with tartar sauce on the side.

Over time, the distinction between steak à l'Americaine and its variant vanished. The 1938 edition of Larousse Gastronomique describes steak tartare as raw ground beef served with a raw egg yolk, without any mention of tartar sauce.

Health concerns

Health concerns have reduced the popularity of this meat dish in some parts of the world because of the danger of contamination by bacteria and parasites. However when basic hygienic rules are followed and when fresh meat is used the risk is low . It is not recommended for people who have a weakened immune system or suffer from a chronic illness, because for these people there is a greater risk of E. coli and salmonella.

Regional variations

Steak tartare is now regarded as a gourmet dish. It is especially popular in Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland.

In Belgium and The Netherlands steak tartare is known as filet américain (translated as American fillet). In Belgium it's served with fries or considered a sandwich dressing; it comes mostly prepared (with onions and seasonings), but can be unprepared (raw ground lean beef). Therefore in bilingual Belgium this filet américain is called "preparé". In The Netherlands filet américain is primarily used as sandwich spread.

A variant of steak tartare (called tartarmad) is also present in Danish smørrebrød, where it is served on rugbrød (rye bread) with assorted toppings. In Germany, there is a very popular variant using raw minced pork called Mett or Hackepeter, which is typically served on rye bread or rolls, with the onions and pepper, but without capers or egg.

The Mexican version of steak tartare typically marinates the meat in lime juice, while the standard version is marinated in wine.

Korean cuisine features a dish of prepared raw beef called yukhoe. Chilean cuisine features a dish of prepared raw beef called crudos. Ethiopian cuisine features a very spicy dish of prepared raw beef called kitfo.

Steak tartare in a restaurant in Paris, France.

Raw-meat dishes are popular across the Levant; for instance, kibbeh nayyeh (كبة نية, kibbah nayyah) which incorporates raw lamb or beef with bulgur wheat, olive oil and spices, known as çiğ köfte (raw meat ball) in Turkey, is often considered to be a national dish of Lebanon and Syria.

See also

• Carpaccio
• Crudos
• Gored gored
• Kibbeh nayyeh
• Kitfo
• Mett
• Tartare
• Yukhoe