Steak Tartare

Eccentric, and doesn't quite get you there.

I don't see a recipe for steak tartare, I see an unfinished arrangement of raw beef placed on a slice of bread with a salad thrown on top.

Skip the odd salad (watercress and capers?), and the even odder bread (vegemite and Irish butter?), and find a classic recipe for steak tartare.

You do understand that is GABRIELLE HAMILTON'S steak tartare? If you want to make a traditional version, by all means, go ahead. Why rip on a creative interpretation by a chef? How dull life would be if everyone made the same food the same way all the time.

I made an anchovy butter shmear using the paste, added a little lemon juice for some acidity, and substituted for the vegemite. Also rocket/arugula in the salad. An elegant presentation our guests enjoyed.

Weirdly, I thought these notes were intended to be helpful tips and other improvisations on the recipe, but the sanctimony and snark seems to be drowning most of that out. As for the toxoplasmosis and salmonella concerns - people, it's a raw beef recipe. Move along now.

I'm truly baffled by this recipe. I've been making it for years, generally with very rare roast beef from the center of a standing prime rib. But in every recipe I've ever seen, all the ingredients are MIXED. If you put an egg yolk into the center of the chopped beef, it is to be MIXED with the beef. How can it possibly be mixed in with all of that rabbit-food stuff all over the top? Is this a SALAD, or is it steak tartar?

It is mixed at the table - that is why the lovely presentation here, rather than serving this pre-mixed. I have had this in restaurants and hotel room service and it is never mixed before presenting it to the diner.

I was amused by the comments. As a youngster, I would dip my finger into my mother's raw beef preparation for Italian meatballs. Yes, fresh ground beef blended with egg yolk, salt and pepper. I loved the yummy tast. She disapproved. But years later working in Frankfurt, Germany, the Frankurter Hoff menu offered Beef Steak Tartar. I ordered it to the dismay of my friends. "Raw Beef?!! Raw egg?" It was heavenly, as good as Mom's, and I knew that as a kid!

Do you mean the cutting board should be turned 90 degrees?

An old "gentleman's" cookbook - Esquire I believe, from my dad's bachelor days - describes using a sturdy silver spoon and taking the edge against the cut grain of a filet, scraping carefully into a pile and discarding any sinew and such. A pinch of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and, if you're feeling daring, a splash or two of Worcestershire Sauce and some finely minced sweet onion - mix lightly.

The problem with raw beef that has been pre-ground, apart from the fact that most would find that it has been ground too fine, is that it is much more subject to bacterial contamination. A single cut of beef has a very small surface area to be in contact with bacteria. Ground beef has surface area on each tiny ground piece that multiplies the area enormously. And who knows what was in the store's grinder before your order?

It's a version of steak tartar which is slightly different than what you're used to. In your case you are making it with cooked meat which would violate the traditional preparation more than the choice of accompaniment to my mind. Of course, you can do that because that's what cooking is about, experimenting, making something a little different than anyone has made before as the chef did here. You might like it, you might not, so what.

Couldn’t agree more. To much bashing here. Recipes are meant to be interpreted and reinterpreted.

I always order extra fresh ground beef to snack on when making burgers!

Wow, I never expected such criticism or lack of creativity from your audience, Gabrielle. Don't take it too harshly. People are goofy. Though I shant take your recipe literally (as I do intend to toss all together and then place on slathered bread,) you've allowed me to "play" with a sacred dish of mine. Not an easy feat. Thank you

This recipe is for those who DO like steak tartare. I've tried this and while I prefer a more traditional preparation and a smoother texture, I have incorporated some of her ingredients (the celery leaves are a fabulous addition to any tartare) into mine. I know you'll be relieved to hear that I'm not pregnant.

My mother used to make this for us when she was worried about something. She got that from her mother, who would also wake her up in the middle of the night to have steak tartare and commiserate over whatever was worrying her. I didn't care it was the middle of the night, I was happy to get steak tartare. When I took over the kitchen, I changed it by removing the egg, adding capers, and having it on rye bread with a bit of salt and Worcestershire. I also use the food processor to chop the meat.