Why do people like steak tartare

My dining partner and I hesitated, a slight trepidation keeping our forks at bay. There was, it turned out, nothing to fear. My companion thought the meat tasted more "brown" than "pink": that is, raw, but so perfectly seasoned it tasted as if it had been cooked. Like the best tartare, this one was buttery and fragrant, with a far more welcoming mouthfeel than sinewy steak. With the last of the toast, I chased the final flecks of meat across our plate.

Whereas steak is an invariably ungainly visitor in the digestive system, the aftereffect of steak tartare is rather like that of sushi. But better than that—more substantial and much more complex. I do not imagine that tartare is something one should eat with any great frequency.

But I can even less imagine never eating it at all. So, is eating steak tartare dangerous? Not necessarily. The USDA warns against eating steak tartare, "cannibal sandwiches" and other uncooked beef due to the risk of foodborne illness. McGill University's Office for Science and Society says if you trust the butcher and restaurant to take the meticulous steps ensure the cut of meat used is stored and prepared properly single prep area just for tartare, special sanitation methods for knives and cutting boards, and serving immediately , eating steak tartare is perfectly OK.

Want to top your steak tartare off with a nice glass of wine? Ariane Daguin recommends pairing it with a hearty red wine to bring out the flavors of the meat. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. But hamburger is a different business because the "outside" becomes the "inside" when the meat is ground. Commercially packaged hamburger may come from grinding meat sourced from many animals so the likelihood of contamination is increased as compared with a piece of meat ground in front of you by a butcher.

Safety dictates that unless you have great trust in your butcher, hamburger should be cooked until there is no pink inside. Steak tartare is really raw hamburger mixed with spices. If the cut is contaminated on the outside then the mixing distributes the bacteria throughout. Raw meat, however, is not the only way to encounter E. There have been cases of spinach being contaminated probably from manure as well as unpasteurized apple juice. For those worried about bacteria, chefs know how to kill them off, typically in a process that includes submerging the beef in boiling salt water for ten seconds, then dropping it into a bucket of ice water for 10 more.

Did you know that it is actually more difficult to digest cooked meat than raw meat? So, if digestion issues tend to be a problem for you, then raw tartare may be the way to go.

When meat is cooked, many of the important enzymes found in that meat are killed off. This is why so many people love eating raw beef- for the health benefits and all of the nutrients that stay in these meats when they are served raw. There have even been some studies that have linked the vitamin B in raw beef to better reproductive health.

Trying steak tartare is a great way to begin opening your eyes to more food options that you may never known were out there before.