The Historical Myth of Steak Tartare

Last week, I presented the first National Steak Tartare Championship at Madrid Fusión. There I was, by chance, speaking with participants and asking the jury members for their opinions. In case you're curious, the victory went to Juanjo López from 'La Tasquita de Enfrente' (Madrid) with a proposal that curiously did not include the ingredients or dressing traditionally associated with this recipe. A canonical tartare is almost always made with raw beef (finely chopped with a knife at the moment) seasoned with egg yolk, mustard, Tabasco or some spicy touch, Worcestershire sauce, chopped onion, capers or other pickles, salt, and pepper.

Some elements may vary, but more or less, this is how you will find the famous steak tartare in most restaurants. If you're lucky, it will be served in the classic way, with soufflé potatoes or toasted bread for spreading, and prepared live in front of your eyes. The steak tartare protocol dictates that the customer is asked about their preferences and that, with all the seasonings at hand, the dish is concocted next to their table with personalized flavor and spice levels. It is such a ceremonious, ritualistic, and delightfully civilized preparation that it seems unbelievable that the false idea of its origins being linked to barbarism still persists. Or rather, with what our ancestors interpreted as barbaric, savage, and horrible.

During the championship, the theory that many of you might be thinking of now came up a couple of times, linking steak tartare with Tartar horsemen, 'Michael Strogoff', and even Genghis Khan himself. I didn't say a word because it wasn't the time to correct anyone, but I take this opportunity to tell you the truth: this recipe has nothing to do with Tartary or Jules Verne. The French novelist wrote the famous adventures of the Tsar's courier in 1876, and although some insist otherwise, there is no mention of raw meat or bloody steaks in any of its pages. What the brave Strogoff did eat during his journey to Irkutsk—aboard a ship, not on horseback—was "a bit of kulbat, a kind of cake made with egg yolks, rice, and minced meat." What Verne called "kulbat" was actually a koulibiac, a typically Russian dish that, with its very civilized puff pastry cover and meat filling, resembles a Beef Wellington far more than what we understand as a tartare.

So where does the great Khan fit in? And the Huns? And the tale of the bloody steak under the horse's saddle? Well, they are just that, tales. To begin with, the Tartars are not the same as the Mongols, although the term ended up being applied in Europe to almost any nomadic invader coming from Asia. With recipes using raw minced meat in Germany (look for it under the name Mett), Syria (kibbeh nayyeh), or Korea (yukhoe), it seems no coincidence that the legend surrounding the name or possible origin of steak tartare arose from a xenophobic prejudice: that Asian nomads, being so barbaric, ate raw meat. As early as the 13th century, Marco Polo fueled this idea of savagery—always seen through Western eyes—by recounting that in the remote Chinese province of Yunnan, very close to Tibet, both rich and poor ate raw meat. The same sign of barbarism was later attributed to Mongol warriors and Ukrainian Cossacks, who were said to place meat steaks under the horse's saddle to tenderize it through riding and then eat it raw. This was told by people who had not seen the practice in situ: some Central Asian peoples did follow this custom, but not to consume the meat, rather to cushion and relieve the horses' sores.

The truth about steak tartare is that it is a very modern recipe... with a therapeutic background. Throughout the 19th century, prominent doctors and hygienists began recommending zomotherapy or a diet based on raw meat (especially horse or beef) to improve the condition of tuberculosis patients. Raw meat cures were very popular, and some of its prescribers, like the French doctor Ludovic O'Followell, recommended pressing the meat to drink its juice or mashing it with egg yolks, salt, and other condiments. Perhaps due to the influence of the hamburger or the abundance of cattle in America, the "beefsteak à l'americaine" became fashionable in France: raw minced meat and egg yolk served with capers, onion, and chopped parsley. The formula was given in 1903 by the famous chef Auguste Escoffier, and on the next page of his cookbook 'Le guide culinaire', you can read the first mention of what he called "bifteck à la tartare", the same as the American but without yolk and accompanied by tartar sauce. There you have it.