Steve's Weird Food for France: Steak Tartare

Steak Tartare. I know this would not be "out there" for a lot of people*, but it's definitely weird for me. I mean come on! Raw hamburger on a plate?

What can I say about steak tartare? My first forkful made me think, "Hey, this is quite tasty". Unfortunately, that thought was followed in approximately 0.00000001 seconds with the thought, "THIS IS RAW BEEF!" which kind of spoiled the moment. Mine was served with some decent fried potatoes, a green salad, and some baguette. I think it's often served with toast, for spreading.

And it was a lot - a mound the size of a softball. Too much for me to finish.

What did it taste like? It's chilled, and mostly you just taste the seasoning. I'm pretty sure there was some kind of vinegar-like thing in there, and some onion, and I believe it's usually prepared with Worcestershire Sauce. It was savoury and tasty, and the texture was like coarse, moist, stringy paté. I just couldn't separate the taste from the idea. Also, it is disquieting to get raw hamburger stuck between one's teeth.

I believe I can go to my grave without having steak tartare again.


* And by "a lot of people" I mean "the Paris Hashers with whom I discussed the 'Steve's Weird Food' project". One of their suggestions was Tête de Veau. But this came from a guy whose cafeteria at work serves frog's legs so he's clearly on a whole other Weird Food Level.