Tartare

From Freepedia

Tartare is a preparation of finely chopped raw meat optionally with seasonings and sauces.

Examples are

Steak tartare,
Venison tartare, and
Salmon tartare.

Typically, a Tartare is served as a spread for toast. The name is popularly derived from the Tatars. Steak tartare is widely believed to have been the foreunner of hamburger patties. For the popular sauce, please see tartare sauce.

History

The derivation of the tartare method of preparation in the most popular version of events dates back to the Mongols under Genghis Khan. The Tartars or Mongols would spend months at a time on horseback and needed to carry their food supply with them. The army, which consisted totally of cavalry, would be supplied from carts travelling behind the force. They needed food that could be easily carried from place to place and could be eaten without stopping, which would slow down their speed of movement which was a critical factor in their success as an army.

Mongol soldiers would use patties of horsemeat, beef, lamb and mutton formed into patties and carried under their saddle. When it was mealtime, the meat would be softened and it would also cushion their buttocks.

By the time of Kublai Khan, the dish had reached Moscow with the Mongol invasion of Russia. The Russians adopted the dish for beef under the name of steak tartare and gradually added chopped onions and egg to the beef. The tartare method had also reached China where Marco Polo encountered it for beef and other foods. The food was no longer prepared on horseback but was prepared by grinding the food in a kitchen. While some people consider that the name is derived from the reputation of the Mongol armies of being bloodthirsty people who ate raw meat, most people credit the derivation of the tartare method to the Mongols.

German sailors especially from Hamburg encountered the dish when in Russia on trading missions. They brought the dish back to Germany where steak tartare became known as tartare steak. It also gained the alternate name of Hamburg steak which became popular amongst the working class. German immigrants brought the dish to the US in the late 18th and early 19th century where the dish became known as a hamburger. This dish was not served in bread or buns until the 1880's or 1890's.

The tartare method of food preparation has gone into decline due to the possibility of contracting a bacterial infection. However, the hamburger became one of the world's most popular dishes by the end of the 20th century.

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpaccio