How to Make Steak Tartare
Serves 6
Steak Tartare is said to originate from the times of Genghis Khan. The legend being that
nomadic Tatar people of the Central Asian didn’t have time to cook and thus placed
meat underneath their horses’ saddles, at the end of a journey the meat would be
tenderised and ready to eat. The good news is there is no requirement for you to ride
a horse whilst making this tasty dish, give it a try, it’s actually very nice. You can always add a raw or cooked egg on top of steak tartare to make it extra special.
Ingredients:
• 500g (1lb) pound finely ground beef fillet (Must be really fine)
• 1 small finely chopped white onion
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Half a teaspoon of hot pepper sauce (Tabasco) optional
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon brandy
• Salt to taste
• Ground white pepper to taste
• 1 egg yolk
Mix all the ingredients together until well blended, refrigerate for 30 minutes to
allow the flavours to combine. Serve on toasts/crackers with some green salad as
dressing. My particular favourite is on a fresh bread roll with a boiled egg on the
side and a sprinkling of pepper (pictured).
Note: Freezing the meat for a few days before use will ensure there are no parasites or
bacteria present, this is particularly important in less hygienic countries. This is an easy way to make steak tartare!
Videojug has a great video on how to make steak tartare. You can find it here:
Main Dish: How To Make Steak Tartare
Steak tartare is a meat dish made from finely chopped or ground raw beef. Tartare can also be made by thinly slicing a high grade of meat such as New York strip, marinating it in wine or other spirits and spiced to taste, and then chilled. It is often served with onions, capers and seasonings (the latter typically incorporating fresh ground pepper and Worcestershire sauce), and sometimes with a raw egg, and usually served on rye bread. In the past, many restaurants that served hamburgers would prepare steak tartare even if they did not specifically mention it on the menu.[citation needed]
In some countries, health concerns have decreased the popularity of this meat dish because of the danger of contamination by bacteria and parasites. In countries with high hygiene standards, this is not a concern and the dish remains very popular. Cooking until the chopped meat is no longer pink is a sure way of killing almost all undesired organisms, but it is contrary to the preparation of this food item. The Mexican version of steak tartare typically marinates the meat in lime juice, in the manner of ceviche, which has the effect of disinfecting the meat to a certain extent. It is also often consumed, especially in Russia, with vodka, which may have a similar effect.
This kind of burger was the original hamburger from Hamburg, Germany. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and other cities where there is a large German population, the tartar steak, as it also is called, is very popular. Often you make your own, spreading raw ground beef on pumpernickel bread and adding salt, lots of pepper, onion, a sauce, perhaps a raw egg, or some cheese. It is also known as a cannibal or caveman sandwich.
The basis of the name is the legend that nomadic Tatar people of the Central Asian steppes did not have time to cook and thus placed meat underneath their horses’ saddles.[citation needed] The meat would be tenderised by the end of the journey.
It has also been said that Jules Verne invented the dish as a favorite of Captain Nemo.[citation needed] The Jules Verne restaurant in Paris is even known for its steak tartare. However, no similar dish can be found in either Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea or Mysterious Island, the only novels by Verne to mention Captain Nemo. This also goes against the widely popularized notion that the ocean dwelling Nemo has refused to depend on the land for any of his food. Another literary figure known to enjoy steak tartare is Agent Pendergast in the mystery novels by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
Prepared Steak Tartare with French fries
Steak tartare is now regarded as a gourmet dish. It is especially popular in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, the Czech Republic (Tatarák) and Switzerland. In Belgium, it is known as filet américain or American fillet. It is eaten as a main course, typically accompanied with toast or french fries. The preparation of the meat is either done by the waiter, table-side, or by the customers themselves. A fresh green salad may also be served in the summer months to add a further freshness to the dish.
Filet américain is also sold by butchers as a sandwich dressing; it comes either unprepared (raw ground lean beef) or prepared (with eggs, seasonings, etc.). The latter is also popular in the Netherlands.
A variant of steak tartare (called tartarmad) is also present in the Danish lunch where it is served on rye bread with assorted toppings.
- In the movie Wall Street, Gordon Gecko famously orders steak tartare “off the menu” at The 21 Club.
- A scene in Mr. Bean features the title character trying to dispose of an unsatisfactory meal of steak tartare in a fine restaurant.
- The enigmatic Agent Pendergast from the novels by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child greatly enjoys steak tartare.
- In the animated TV show King of the Hill, Hank Hill once referred to an incident where Peggy got her entire family sick by serving “chicken tartare.”
- In The Batman vs. Dracula , while attending the party at Wayne Mannor “Dr. Alucard (Dracula) is offered Steak Tartare and readily accepts, slurping up the raw meat and discarding the cracker it was served on.
- In season 2 of the Fox television series “The O.C.“, character Caleb Nichol asks his wife, Julie Cooper-Nichol, if she will be making him steak tartare.
- In the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand, Randall Flagg, the primary antagonist, finds Lloyd Henreid locked in a prison cell after over 99 percent of the population has died. After pulling back the mattress and revealing a partially-eaten rat (due to Henreid’s inability to obtain food), Flagg quips, “And you got stuck with nothin’ to eat but rat tartare.”