Steak tartare is a meat dish made from rawground beef or horse meat. It is usually served with onions, capers, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and other seasonings, often presented to the diner separately, to be added for taste. It is often served with a raw egg yolk on top of the dish. The name tartare is sometimes generalized to other raw meat or fish dishes. A less-common version in France is tartare aller-retour, a mound of mostly raw ground meat that is lightly seared on both sides.
History
The Tatars and raw meat
A popular caricature of Mongol warriors—called Tatars or Tartars—has them tenderizing meat under their saddles, then eating it raw. This story was popularized by Jean de Joinville in the 13th century. But Joinville never encountered Mongols himself and used this as a way of showing that they were uncivilized. It is possible that this story was a confusion originating in the use of thin slices of meat to protect saddle sores from further rubbing.
Popularization of raw meat in Europe and the United States
In the late 19th century, the Hamburg steak became popular on the menus of many restaurants in the port of New York. This kind of fillet was beef minced by hand, lightly salted and often smoked, and usually served raw in a dish along with onions and bread crumbs. Hamburg steak gained popularity because of its ease of preparation and decreasing cost. This is evident from its detailed description in some of the most popular cookbooks of the day. Documents show that this preparation style was used by 1887 in some U.S. restaurants and was also used for feeding patients in hospitals; the Hamburg steak was served raw or lightly cooked and was accompanied by a raw egg. It is not known when the first restaurant recipe for steak tartare appeared. While not providing a clear name, it's possible that the dish was popularized in Paris by restaurateurs who misunderstood Jules Verne's description of "Koulbat" in his 1875 novel Michael Strogoff.
Origins of the name
In the early twentieth century, what is now generally known as "steak tartare", was in Europe called steack à l'Americaine. One variation on that dish included serving it with tartar sauce; the 1921 edition of Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire defines "Steack à la tartare" as steack à l'Americaine made without egg yolk, served with tartar sauce on the side. "Steack à la tartare" was later shorted to "steak tartare" Over time, the distinction between steack à l'Americaine and its tartar-sauce variant disappeared. 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. It has also been called "Tartar steak" in English. "À la tartare" or simply "tartare" can still mean "served with tartar sauce" for some dishes, mostly fried fish. At the same time, the name "tartare" is also sometimes applied to other dishes of raw meats or fish, such as tuna tartare, introduced in 1975 by the restaurant Le Duc in Paris.
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 such as Toxoplasma gondii and Taenia saginata.
Bacteria
When basic hygienic rules are followed and fresh meat is used, the risk of bacterial infection is low. Even when these provisions are met, it is nonetheless not recommended.
Parasites
Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that may be found in raw or undercooked meat. A multicentre case-control study found inadequately cooked or inadequately cured meat as the main risk factor for toxoplasma infection in all centres. Due to the risk of congenital toxoplasmosis in the fetus, pregnant women are advised not to eat raw meat. Latent toxoplasmosis in adults has been associated with, but not proven to cause, psychological effects and lower IQ in some studies. Taenia saginata may also be acquired via ingestion of under-cooked beef. The tapeworm is transmitted to humans via infectious larval cysts that are found in cattle. People with taeniasis may not know they have a tapeworm infection, due to the fact that the symptoms are usually mild or nonexistent. But, it is still possible to develop cysticercosis.
Regional variations
Europe
Steak tartare is found in many European cuisines. The Belgian version, filet américain , is generally made with mayonnaise and seasoned with capers and fresh herbs. It was formerly made of horse meat. It is usually served with french fries. In Czechia and Slovakia steak tartare is found in many restaurants. The meat is ground lean sirloin and has a raw egg yolk in a dimple in the middle. The meat can be premixed with herbs and spices, but usually the customer is given spices and condiments to add to taste. Steak tartare is typically served with toasted bread and raw garlic cloves for rubbing on the bread. In Poland, steak tartare is known as "tatar" or "befsztyk tatarski" and is traditionally served as an appetizer with diced onions, pickled dills, pickled mushrooms, egg yolk, spices, and, optionally, yeast extract or coriander. A variant of steak tartare is also present in Danish smørrebrød, where it is served on rugbrød with assorted toppings. In Sweden, steak tartare, råbiff, is usually served with raw egg yolk, raw onions, diced pickled beetroot and capers. In Finland, tartarpihvi is served with raw egg yolk, raw onions, pickled and salted cucumbers and capers. Variations of the dish include dressing with buttermilk sauce and salmon roe. The Russian version can include pickled and salted mushrooms and toasted white bread.
North America
Steak tartare is served at many trendy restaurants in the United States. In Wisconsin, a steak tartare sandwich, called a "cannibal sandwich", is popular among the descendants of German immigrants; it uses sirloin, rye bread, salt, pepper and chopped onions.
South America
features a dish of prepared raw beef called crudos. In southern Brazil, influenced by German immigrants, it is known as Hackepeter or Carne de Onça in Curitiba where this dish is very common and served covered with chives.
Africa
Ethiopians have long eaten a dish of raw, minced beef called kitfo.
In popular culture
In the British TV seriesMr. Bean, In the 2nd episode, "The Return of Mr. Bean", the protagonist visits a restaurant and is served a steak tartare. After realizing it is not what he expected, he tries a variety of strategies to avoid eating it.
