Carpacci and Tartar

Yesterday I came about the excellent piece from Maria Cross regarding the bullshit  which is told about raw food (https://medium.com/@mariacross/raw-versus-cooked-which-diet-is-the-most-nutritious-5e7da97b78f4). I had to do with raw food fanatics in my life. I never understood how someone could so stupid to tell that raw food is good because cooking would destroy the natural enzymes of the food.  When I taught biology  at the high school already my  12 years old students knew that any protein, coming the human stomach is destroyed and digested. Maria Cross in her usual humorous way explains this and the other often harmful results of limiting the diet to raw food.  This does not mean that there is no excellent raw food. My friend Boris Lauser is a raw food chef, who''s dishes are on the highest possible level.

I am a raw food  lover. Well I don't want to say I love the "vegan raw food".  I can eat it some times.  But my addiction  is raw fish and raw meet and indeed also some selected veggie stuff.  With "carpaccio", you group in Italy everything what is finely sliced and raw, meat,  fish or vegetables. The international gourmet community knows better "tartar", minced lean good beef meet, which is a standard dish in any French brassery

The standard condiment for Tartar is Oil, egg  yolk, a bit of mustard and it is enough. I put such a Tartar on a lamb lattuce salad, cou can see in the picture gallery. I just bought a meat grinder. So I can select my meat and have not to trust butcher what he grinded, what is important when you buy sometimes in the super market.

I can eat good raw meat without condiments.  Good raw fish I prefer without condiments / except a bit of salt and olive oil. Nevertheless seasoning a finely sliced carpaccio is a wonderful kitchen task.

Meat carpacci are always slightly seasoned. Olive Oil of best quality is a must, minced capers are a possibility,  so is sliced parmesan or pecorino cheese.  Excellent also in combination with sliced Porcino mushrooms. Go for the absolute luxury, grating Truffles on your meat.  You can also combine fresh meat and cured meet, I like to add "primo sale di lombetto" of butcher Peletti, that brings pork and beef together.  Spring onions sprinkled on the carpaccio give a nice  view. Combining with Anchovis is already dangerous, you want the taste of the carpaccio, not of the salted fish.

For raw fish, there are three methods. In depth marination with vinegar and salt,  gentle marination with oil and lemon or lime and last but not least the Sashimi mode.

For Sashimi mode the fish has to be frozen first for some hours at -25. This does not improve the fish,, but there is Anisakis around. I like my sword fish carpaccio  with a salad of  lukewarm spelled. But I can eat also buckets full of oysters, freshly opend sea urchins and I even appreciate raw mussels.

In depth marination is a traditional Italian method. Get fillets from simple  fish (alici), put them overnight in salt and vinegar, wash them the other day and redress with  Oil and spices you may like.  Not really any more raw, because the fish  got "cooked" in the vinegar. You can  buy them already prepared but for me the commercial ones nearly taste too  much of vinegar.

More precious fish I prefer to marinate gently in lemon juice and Olive Oil. My last dish was done with Salmon trout and wild fennel from the garden. In this way I    prepare also Fillets from Coregone, another fish from Lake Bolsena nearby. "Baccala'" also provides a fabulous carpaccio after thoroughly washing the salt away and seasoning just with some Olive Oil.

Veggie raw food  is called traditionally salad and the only problem could be the lack of fantasy for preparing them. At the moment I am particularly in love with my kale salad with anchovis and garlic. But salads are a topic for another post.

...the wines