steak tartare
 

Is this raw steak?

Raw hamburger.

It is raw hamburger mixed with egg and spices. Better known as Filet American.

so is tartare de saumon raw salmon? Can they still serve raw beef in Paris with the mad cow disease?

Yes, they can, and yes, they do, and yes, it's still delicious!<BR><BR>And tartare de saumon is indeed raw salmon - also delicious!

Cooking meat doesn't prevent the transmission of Mad Cow Disease, so it would be pointless. What is done is preventing infected meat to be consummed. By testing the animals slaughtered, killing the herd when a case is detected and finally removing the parts of the animal where the infectious agent can be present (brain, spine, etc..). But if infected meat makes its way to your plate, eating it raw or not won't make a difference.<BR><BR>So, yes, steak tartare is commonly served in Paris restaurants. I would add that the eggs mixed with the grounded meat are raw too. <BR><BR>And by the way, it's a dish a like a lot. I eat it quite often at home. Plus, it's certainly extremely easy to cook... ;)

I forgot to add that restaurants either serve the steak tartare already prepared or serve only the steak/eggs mix and give you the various spices to prepare it according to your personnal taste.<BR><BR>And now, I'm hungry...

<BR>http://www.luxuryweb.com/Recipes/Bis...ak_tartare.htm

isn't it raw sirlooin - hamburger isn't always just raw sirloin, invariably it's a mix of various cuts....

As Mike mentions, it is also known as "filet Am&eacute;ricain", more specifically in Belgium. I have always wondered about the origin of this term, especially since Americans in general are not fond of raw meat. One explanation I heard: after WWI (or WWII), American soldiers, in their quest for hamburgers (unknown in Europe at that time), would ask the local butchers to grind good beef for them so they could make their own beef patties. The butchers would give them filet, and in turn started calling it "filet Am&eacute;ricain".<BR>True or not..?

Cannibals

Not being fond of raw hamburger (or raw sirloin, for that matter), I was once very unpleasantly surprized by when my order of steak tartare arrived (I had assumed it was just some special way of COOKING steak). <BR><BR>I was with a small group of French people I did not know very well and ate the entire thing with a smile on my face while secretly kicking myself for being too proud to clarify in advance!<BR><BR>Somewhat related . . . I was having dinner at a friend's house in Geneva once, and he was fixing me some special potato dish (raclette??). He served it into a bowl for each of us (and it looked lovely) . . . and then proceeded to crack a raw egg into each bowl. Not the most appetizing final touch I'd ever witnessed . . .

Yes, it is best fillet steak or sirloin - admittedly an aquired taste. I love it now, but it made my stomach turn when I first tasted it.<BR>Give it a try.<BR>Have you ever seen what Mr Bean does with it when he orders it by mistake?<BR>The salmon tatare will probably made of smoked salmon MMMMmmmm!<BR>Andrea, poor you! Should you perhaps have cooked the egg in the little pan that you get to melt the cheese on the raclette stove?

Meg, about salmon tartare. It is not made of smoked salmon, it is made of "gravad" salmon (salted with sea salt). After smoking the fish is not raw anymore. You can also mix different fish in one tartare. And that is actually better than plain salmon.

Although I don't like steak tartare at all, I do love beef carpaccio. It's raw as well but then I'm sure it's pure beef. Having worked at a (good) butcher during my student time, I know that steak tartare is not always made of the best parts of the animal ...

Meg - sadly, no - he broke the raw egg right on top of the food he'd just put in our bowls. Actually, it worked out absolutely fine - the food is so hot that you're meant to immediately stir the egg in which cooks most of it, and of course, it tastes fine anyway . . . it was just SUCH a surprise to see a nice dinner and then have him crack a raw egg over it!

Andrea,<BR>There is a pasta restaurant in Antwerp where they serve Spaghetti Carbonara exactly that way. I love their other dishes but won't order the Carbonara again ...