Steak tartare surely divides opinions. Some are totally abhorred at the thought, such as
Mr. Bean who goes to great lengths to hide it, and then there are people like me who absolutely love it. Personally, I think it's closest to umami you can get.
There are several ways to prepare steak tartare. It is most often made of beef or horse. Pork is not advised because of the risk of
trichinosis and I would hesitate eating chicken tartare too. Here's a
link to a story discussing safety concerns and a recipe for lamb tartare, too. I think I have to try that, I like lamb meat so much! To me, the most classic steak tartare (one version
here) is with an egg yolk in the middle, served with finely hacked onion and pickled cucumber. I've seen versions where pickled vegetables and onion were mixed into the meat and then patted into steaks, and also vegetables served separatedly. As with some other raw foods, schnapps can be served with tartare.
Eating raw beef is no health concern if the meat you use is safe, properly stored and processed, otherwise I do suggest you fry your steak. Be especially careful, if you have a condition that weakens your immune system. This being said, I am lucky to live in Finland, as the food handling chains are very thoroughly supervised and tested. Oh yes, and it's cold for the most part of the year so no heat wave problems here usually. I am so lucky, counting my blessings here ... Anyways, I've eaten raw mince all my life, and it's always been good. The same goes for raw eggs: salmonella in Finnish poultry is rare. Though my English pronunciation teacher claimed that it's not true, but not even English gents know everything. It's perfectly safe to eat a whole, fresh egg, even raw, in Finland.
So go to a good quality butcher, and have them make you mince from well cleaned beef meat (roast) that has not been
vacuum ripened or conditioned. Obviously you can use finer meats too, like sirloin or tenderloin (fillet). If you want the true state of the art version, use fillet and scrape it ever so finely with a sharp knife into a mass. Have it minced or scraped, prepared and eaten the same day. If the weather is really hot, be extra careful with handling and hygiene, or even postpone until it's cooler, after all, it's raw stuff and it doesn't keep well.
For steak tartare a la Minna you need (for 3-4 meat lovers):
Small shallot onion finely sliced
2 tsp capers
600 gr best quality tartare mince
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamico vinegar
Black pepper, salt
1. Pat the meat on the plate and put some capers over. Sprinkle sparingly/moderately with salt.
2. Put the onion slices over and grind some black pepper onto the steak. Mix oil and vinegar.
3. Spoon the vinegar-oil mix over and press gently with a fork so that capers and onion slightly sink in. Let sit for 20-30 mins in the fridge.
Things to serve with a steak tartare
Think of pickles, vinegar and crunchy vegetables. The taste of raw meat is mild and mellow with soft texture, so you need to accompany it with something that gives structure and backbone. Pickled stuffs like cucumber, artichoke, onion, pumpkin and capers, raw onion (chopped), marinated vegetables are good choices to accompany steak tartare. You may like try sour and bitter sauces with it, like Worchester, tabasco or good quality mustard. I like to have dijonnaise, mixture of mayonnaise and dijon mustard, with my steak.
I guess it's best I start from the beginning. The other day, we decided to go to a lake side campfire spot and and torch some sausage, pick blueberries, spy for new mushrooms and have a good healthy dose of fresh air. Many cities here have established campfire or barbeque sites for citizens to use and often the city council provides wood for the fire. As Finnish cities are small and practically next to nature, it's very popular summer pastime, to go hiking and eat in the wild. So we bought sausages, filled water bottles and I prepared some vegetables to roast in the fire: cut them in pieces, add some spices, oil and wrap in tin foil. Then we set out.
