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Tatar - a raw meat dish


Tommy  
10 Mar 2008 /  #1
I am wondering about the quality of the pork in Poland. What are most of your livestock animals fed? Are they pretty much free-range, or are they kept in pens, like most American livestock, where they are forced to eat an unnatural diet of mostly corn?

The quality of meat isn`t so bad in Poland if Poles eat tatar - a dish made with raw meat. I think the recipe advises beef but pork seems OK too. See a few photos and read some expert explanation:

polandsite.proboards104.com/index.cgi?board=polishfood&action=d isplay&thread=19
osiol 55 | 3,921  
10 Mar 2008 /  #2
Perhaps originally the recipe depended on the heat generated by the horse (or by the rider - something spicy last night?)
Looks a bit grim to me.
Lukasz 49 | 1,746  
10 Mar 2008 /  #3
It was how Tatars prepared it ... now you can met civilizated version of this dish in whole europe.

btw Ośle ...
plk123 8 | 4,138  
10 Mar 2008 /  #4
lol.. no, tartar is made with beef only. pork one would kill you. :D
Moonlighting 31 | 234  
11 Mar 2008 /  #5
My Polish friend prefers veal tatar.
I prefer beef. Pork? Never heard of it...
Wroclaw Boy  
11 Mar 2008 /  #6
I wouldn't eat anything that consisted of not properly cooked pork, theyt eat there own fesis for goodness sake. Providing the pork is cooked properly its the best ive ever tasted. Turkey here is fantastic too.
ShelleyS 14 | 2,893  
11 Mar 2008 /  #7
Hmmmm...Steak tartare - had it in France a couple of times, its usually horse meat over there or beef :)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak_tartare
OP Tommy  
13 Mar 2008 /  #8
My Polish friend prefers veal tatar.
I prefer beef. Pork? Never heard of it...

What`s the difference? Meat is meat, doesn`t matter where it comes from.... A pig or a cow, all the same, aren`t they?
Zgubiony 15 | 1,553  
13 Mar 2008 /  #9
Try mett. this is similar to tartare, but with pork and won't kill you :)
Seanus 15 | 19,672  
24 Dec 2008 /  #10
I tried this once, not bad not bad.

I ate raw fish (sashimi) for quite a while but I was reluctant to try raw meat. However, it went down well.

My landlord prepared it well.
mafketis 37 | 10,906  
24 Dec 2008 /  #11
From the mistakes-you-make-only-once department:

Many years ago, I bought what looked like fresh tatar on Saturday morning from a meat stand. Little did I realize that it was probably from Thursday and the weather hadn't been that cold. I bought it thinking to make hamburger steak (which might have been okay) but a 'friend' said it looked like tatar so I had it that way (minus egg or sardine or pickle or vodka). About 36 hours later I became sick as a dog with a splitting headache and really bad case of the shakes. Strangely I don't remember throwing up though I assume I did.

I still enjoy tatar but only from places I trust (and lots and lots of vodka, did I mention lots of vodka?)
Seanus 15 | 19,672  
24 Dec 2008 /  #12
I was lucky that I lived in port towns in Japan and sashimi was guaranteed to be fresh. Tatar isn't always.

Tatar just isn't tasty enough to risk it. Just like carp, fatty but tastes bad.
bigrob  
29 Dec 2008 /  #13
The quality of meat isn`t so bad in Poland if Poles eat tatar - a dish made with raw meat.

My Girlfriend made tatar, the important thing is to use steak mince, or at least a proper cut of meat (always beef). The general mince that is in most supermarkets contains the sort of stuff that NEEDS to be cooked to kill all those nasty bacteria , that will indeed upset any but the most battle hardened stomachs.

Me being a bit of a big girls blouse with raw meat, turned mine into burgers, and they were absolutely gorgeous!
polishgirltx  
29 Dec 2008 /  #14
Tatar - a raw meat dish

i didn't like that dish at first... but i didn't like sushi at first either... and now, pure love! ;)
plk123 8 | 4,138  
29 Dec 2008 /  #15
actually tartar is not raw, per se... it is kind of "cooked". it works the same way as ceviche.
GordonBleu  
26 Oct 2009 /  #16
Steak Tartare is NOT cooked, not "cooked" in any way. It's raw beef, with a raw egg yolk, a mashed salty anchovy, minced onion, powdered dry paprika, and maybe a bit of mustard. It's delicious on a bit of bread, with icy-cold wodka to accompany. The usual garnishes are chopped boiled egg, or capers, but these are also optional.

Other considerations:
-- It's best to have the meat minced at the latest possible moment before serving and not to use ground or minced beef that has been sitting in the meat display, to avoid food poisoning. If at the market, ask the butcher to grind it at your request, ideally using a clean machine.

-- Use the leanest beef there is, for best taste and for your health and digestion.
-- Pigs are rather more likely than cows to pick up parasites (trichina worms, for example) that lodge in the muscle meat and that can be equally injurious to humans. Therefore, eating uncooked (or very rare) pork is a bad idea, and pork tartare just isn't done. (Tuna tartare is a modern fad, but be sure to use sushi-quality fish, to avoid oceanic parasites.)

Ceviche is made with lemon or lime juice, which has enough acid to reduce the bacteria count somewhat, but ceviche as normally served is not "cooked" as far as breaking down the muscle fibers or aiding digestion. The protein fibers *begin* to break down a little if the ceviche is held at least three hours, by which time it has become unpalatable.
PlasticPole 7 | 2,648  
26 Oct 2009 /  #17
So, do you mince the steak before you put it on the bread? Sounds like a fancy steak salad.
scottie1113 7 | 898  
27 Oct 2009 /  #18
I like tatar. I made it in the US, have eaten it in France and even in a Polish home on Easter Sunday amidst all the egg dishes. Delicious.

Use beef, NEVER pork. There's a huge difference. You can get trichnosis from undercooked pork so imagine what raw pork can do to you.

You can't compare sushi to tatar. Try sashimi (raw fish) instead. Excellent.

And ceviche, what a treat! I'm getting hungry.
frd 7 | 1,399  
27 Oct 2009 /  #19
Never try "tatar" while travelling polish train.. I heard few diarrhea stories..
Raijin 1 | 20  
19 Nov 2009 /  #20
Oh... This is my thread. I like tatar too!

I put cut onion and raw egg into Tatar.
When I have tatar and Tyskie, I can be in heaven:-)
Cardno85 31 | 973  
19 Nov 2009 /  #21
Never try "tatar" while travelling polish train.. I heard few diarrhea stories..

Your first mistake was surely eating food from a train anywhere. I have never even had a decent sandwich on a train so I wouldn't dare eat raw meat!

As for Tatar, I love it, raw onions, raw egg and some capers...yummy.
polkamaniac 1 | 482  
20 Nov 2009 /  #22
Here is what it looks like.I have tried it but the meat has to be real fresh.The best way to eat it is to chase it down with a nice cold beer!!!!!!!!


  • tatar

  • piwo
krysia 23 | 3,058  
20 Nov 2009 /  #23
Thay're called "cannibal sandwiches"
mafketis 37 | 10,906  
20 Nov 2009 /  #24
.The best way to eat it is to chase it down with a nice cold beer!!!!!!!!

I prefer vodka, especially czysta żołądkowa....
polkamaniac 1 | 482  
27 Nov 2009 /  #25
Yeah--This sandwich will put hair on your chest !!!!!!!!
cheehaw 2 | 263  
27 Nov 2009 /  #26
I hope the beef is real beef.. not factory fed antibiotic steroid grown ..

personally i wouldn't dare touch it these days.

is real tasty though I used to eat that.. back when i ate oysters like a mad woman too.

I have done successive parasite cleanses over the years as a result too.

saw a good size tapeworm come out once.

now go eat your steak tartar.. enjoy!

as for me.. never again.
convex 20 | 3,928  
27 Nov 2009 /  #27
you can get trichnosis from eating the neighbors garbage disposal pig raw. millions of fresh mettwurst sandwiches are sold in german every week without a problem. if you don't trust your source, you probably shouldn't be eating it.

another quick tip for having tartar at a restaurant. the decent places will take the slab of beef out and grind it in front of you. i'm not sure if it's true or not, but i heard that there are a certain additional set of criteria that a restaurant has to achieve with regards to the storage and prep area if they want to sell tartar.

side note, any suggestions for good tartar? there is a place in klodko that was awesome, will dig out the name...
cheehaw 2 | 263  
27 Nov 2009 /  #28
My grandfather used to make smoked kielbasa.. when its spiced up, salted and smoked, the parasites get killed.

steak tartar is simply raw.

I still say.. eat at your own risk.

there is not a single living thing on this earth that walks.. that does not carry parasites of one sort or another.

(yes, that includes you)

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