Entree of the Month

llSTEAK TARTAREll

I first encountered this dish many years ago during a backpacking adventure/trip in Geneve, Switzerland. As appetizing as its name sounded, one look at it made me swear never to even take a nibble. The only way one would get me to take a bite of it was if I was a contestant in Fear Factor, and if that was my last challenge to win the $50,000 Grand Prize.

Well, what do you know...

"VOILA!"

This dish came up again the other night when "P" came home from a dinner meeting with the KOTRT org. (NYC chapter), wherein he is currently serving as the incumbent chairman. He told me that they went to a midtown chichi French restaurant called Bistro 60 (www.bistro60.com) and he ordered the entree: Steak Tartare with French Fries. Poor guy. Apparently, he thought that he was going to feast on some juicy steak with tartar sauce accompanied by crispy pommes frites. Imagine his surprise (an understatement) when the waiter finally came out with his dinner, which he presented to the table with much aplomb. It was most unusual - just a mound of ground beef seasoned with onions, mustard, a dash of tabasco sauce and capped with a freshly cracked egg on the top. Oh, and did I mention that the entire dish was RAW? It was technically the meat counterpart of shrimp/fish ceviche ( FYI, "kinilaw" in Pinoy-speak)! The waiter announced that the beef was filet mignon, no less (thus justifying the steep price). I'm pretty sure it was of highest quality, but unfortunately for him, "P" was NOT the least impressed. He really couldn't care less if the meat was carved off from a pristine Swiss calf's butt. It was bloody raw mincemeat - for christsakes!! On top of that, he also got the bonus of knowing he had about 1 out of 30,000 chance of contracting salmonella from the raw slimy egg!

No offense to some meat connoisseurs - if you like your meat so rare that you'd actually prefer to have a live cow be herded in the dining room so you can cut a slice off it - then this dish is for you.

But for "P", a Porterhouse steak cooked "medium" - served with Bernaise sauce on the side would be... ...just perfect. Still left wanting, he capped off the evening at home by scarfing bits of Prosciutto Panino sandwiched on 2 huge slices of sourdough bread. I guess this means they'll be making reservations at Smith and Wollensky (www.smithandwollensky.com) for the next meeting.