Ha!
Tartare rocks - hands down, there is nothing like it. Steak pairs well with strong flavors (hence traditional accompaniments of country mustard, horseradish, Worcestershire, raw onions, and cornichons (itty bitty pickles).
Questions and concerns about ground beef should be definitely raised. Any reasonable establishment that serves tartare is going to mince it on the premises – not use ground beef. Bacteria associated with beef are usually found on the outside of the meat; reputable places will take a fresh center cut from a hard to use piece for tartare. Plus, reputable places will use high quality fresh beef, equivalent to sushi grade seafood. Of course, tartare can be done out of a wide assortment of other types of meat as well, generally seafood, tuna being the current rage.
If raw and minced isn’t your thing for beef, try carpaccio. A piece of tenderloin is shaped, rolled in seasoning (not salt), seared for less than a minute at extremely high temperatures, then sliced or pounded extremely thin. Generally slicing is best accomplished by freezing the shaped loin, then slicing it on a meat slicer. A little fleur de sel, some olive oil and some slivers of grana parma (a type of parmesean), and lemon gremalata (minced preserved lemons, garlic, oil, herbs and seasoning) accompany this dish well.
Lastly, there is the Italian ceviche, where diced or minced meat, usually shellfish, is cooked in an acid like lemon juice.
All three are tasty; all three are not cooked with flame; all three are traditional European techniques.
Tartare rocks - hands down, there is nothing like it. Steak pairs well with strong flavors (hence traditional accompaniments of country mustard, horseradish, Worcestershire, raw onions, and cornichons (itty bitty pickles).
Questions and concerns about ground beef should be definitely raised. Any reasonable establishment that serves tartare is going to mince it on the premises – not use ground beef. Bacteria associated with beef are usually found on the outside of the meat; reputable places will take a fresh center cut from a hard to use piece for tartare. Plus, reputable places will use high quality fresh beef, equivalent to sushi grade seafood. Of course, tartare can be done out of a wide assortment of other types of meat as well, generally seafood, tuna being the current rage.
If raw and minced isn’t your thing for beef, try carpaccio. A piece of tenderloin is shaped, rolled in seasoning (not salt), seared for less than a minute at extremely high temperatures, then sliced or pounded extremely thin. Generally slicing is best accomplished by freezing the shaped loin, then slicing it on a meat slicer. A little fleur de sel, some olive oil and some slivers of grana parma (a type of parmesean), and lemon gremalata (minced preserved lemons, garlic, oil, herbs and seasoning) accompany this dish well.
Lastly, there is the Italian ceviche, where diced or minced meat, usually shellfish, is cooked in an acid like lemon juice.
All three are tasty; all three are not cooked with flame; all three are traditional European techniques.