Of all food taboos, the one against eating raw meat is one of the most persistent. There are, for example, few if any recipes for raw meat dishes that predate the 20th century.
The popular notion that steak tartare — a French dish made with chopped raw beef, raw egg yolk, mustard, capers, and hot sauce — originated with the Tatars, horseback-riding descendants of Genghis Khan presumably too busy pillaging to cook their meat is what cultural historians call “fakelore.” That’s folklore reproduced in histories and reference books because it’s as colorful as it is impossible to prove or disprove.
What’s more likely is that steak tartare was a dish created for early 20th century cafe society. It’s often made with “international” ingredients like Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, even ketchup, and was most likely inspired by the American hamburger. The name “tartare” probably derives from the very French tendency to label something un-French as barbaric before they can properly enjoy it.
Before I opened Brasserie Rouge, a doomed Balthazar knockoff that briefly flourished in a huge space near Coors field, I took a trip to Paris with the owners and the managers of the restaurant. On each of our excursions — long debauches that began in the early afternoon with the consumption of sweating bottles of rose and continued well into the following day — we made a point of trying a different steak tartare. We sampled a good tableside tartare at Brasserie Lipp and a bland one in the cavernous, seven hundred-seat La Coupole.
My favorite was the tartare I devoured at 5 in the morning at a dingy bistro called, of all things, Old Navy. It was unforgettable because of the unexpected addition of pickle relish, but also because of the company, an old American expatriate who invited himself to my table and told me stories about being a bodyguard and sparring partner to Muhammad Ali — stories as suspect as the story about the origin of steak tartare, but certainly as colorful.
John Broening cooks at Duo Restaurant, .
“Old Navy” Steak Tartare
Note: Briefly freezing the meat (about 30 minutes) makes it easier to chop. You can also rough chop it by hand and then pulse it in the food
processor. Serves 6 as an appetizer or 4 as an entree.
Ingredients
1 pound very fresh, trimmed filet mignon or top sirloin
1 shallot, minced
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
A few shots Tabasco
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 tablespoon pickle relish or chopped cornichons
3 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
8 slices black bread, toasted
Directions
Finely chop the raw meat and combine with the next 10 ingredients. Taste for seasoning.
Serve with the warm toast and a salad or fried potatoes.
