Recipe / Veal tartare with truffle: hand-chop it for a great result
Tartare is one of the most known and appreciated starters in the world (for people who love meat obviously!).
The most common version is prepared with ground beef, seasoned with capers, parsley, mustard and egg.
The result has usually the texture of shredded meat, more or less spicy depending on the sensibility of the ‘fingers’ of the cook, and the color, more or less ‘red’, depending on the sensitivity of the majority of the guest of the restaurant.
The tartare that I like the most is the one with veal instead of beef. Preparation is very easy:
Hand-cut a veal fillet in small dices and put it in an aluminum bowl
Add a spoon of Dijon mustard – or the one with grains (à l’ancienne) if you prefer a milder taste – or horseradish, and olive oil
Squeeze just a bit of lemon to ignite the marinate process
Add salt and black pepper – I use the Tasmanian one because, apart from the taste, it spreads a nice pinkish color when in contact with heat or liquids
Leave it marinate for as much as you want – 10 or 20 mins – depending on how much you like the taste of raw meat
Shave a black truffle – even better if white – and serve it on top, add a pinch of salt (in grains) and black pepper. A good raw and sliced porcini mushroom is a perfect replacement for truffle. Enjoy it!
Note: I do not add any egg yolk, like in the French version, just because I do not want to milden the taste of meat.
Do you want to give it a twist? Once, in Boston, I was eating a beef tartare and had the impression of smelling burnt bell peppers. It was not true but I think it could be a good addition to the dish. Peel a pepper and place the skin in a tray in the oven. Make it cook (static) at 70 degrees Celsius for quite some time until it is dried and breaks in piece when squeezed in your hands. Blend it and make it a powder to add on top!
Ingredients
Veal tartare fillet (go for the Fassona breed from Piedmonte, if possible)
Salt, Tasmanian pepper and olive oil
Mustard or horseradish
Lemon
Black/white truffle or porcini mushrooms (or nothing at all if you do not have/want it)
