Logan Voss
Every carnivore who walks among us appreciates a well-cooked dish. Whether it’s a grilled-to-perfection hot dog or hamburger, a succulent roast from the slow cooker, or a deep-fried chicken thigh, heat makes meat great. However, some adventurous eaters, having cooked meat in every way possible, want to explore the flavors of raw meat.
We can’t wholeheartedly endorse eating raw meat, of course. Raw poultry in particular can come laden with harmful foodborne pathogens. However, steak tartare is out there, among other interesting raw meat dishes. If you’d like to know more about what the most popular raw meat dishes are, read ahead.
Tiger Meat Sandwiches
Also known as a “cannibal sandwich,” this strange ritual is a Wisconsin tradition. While New Yorkers prefer pastrami on their rye bread, rural Wisconsinites opt for raw ground beef. Given Wisconsin’s rich Teutonic heritage, the dish may have its roots in similar German dishes—after all, the “tiger meat” in a tiger meat sandwich is not plain raw beef, but a well-spiced beef, and here in this land of hearty, meat-loving people, tiger meat devotees prefer their trusted butchers over grocery store counters. Nonetheless, due to the risks of foodborne bacteria such as E. coli, listeria, and others, you may want to skip this one.
Pittsburgh Rare Steak
From the onetime Steel City comes a tradition of insufficient cooking that Pittsburghers and other people in western Pennsylvania still swear by: the “black-and-blue” steak, or Pittsburgh rare steak. Most people would order their steak medium rare, medium, or perhaps, at the risk of greatly offending a persnickety chef, well done. When you tell your server you’d like your steak done “Pittsburgh,” prepare for a study in contrasts. The dish supposedly has its origins in steelworkers slapping their steaks on hot metal to cook a quick lunch. Whatever its history, you may want to enjoy this with care.
Steak Tartare
The most famous of the most popular raw meat dishes, steak tartare is a double-whammy of questionable food decisions. This dish with a central Asian pedigree combines raw minced beef with a raw egg yolk along with a sprinkling of capers to lend uniquely salty and savory notes. Many would-be raw meat diners find the raw egg particularly tantalizing. If your mother ever admonished you for trying to lick the raw cookie dough off the spoon, this is your chance to get revenge—again, at your own risk.
