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I've always wondered about the history of eating raw meat. My family personally doesn't eat anything raw because of the news reports we've read of people gettin
by samspenc 4y ago
I've always wondered about the history of eating raw meat. My family personally doesn't eat anything raw because of the news reports we've read of people getting sick (or worse) after consuming raw meat, and we make sure to only eat fully cooked meat.
My grandparents' generation also seem more familiar with fully cooked meat, I'm wondering whether raw meat came along more recently and where it originated from. At least in the West.
- gregoriol 4y agoMaybe knowledge and techniques to make raw meat/fish safe have improved in the last decades?
- kuhewa 4y agoThe roots of sushi were in preservation of fish by fermentation. The major food safety improvements recently were probably for industrialized production, where the issues were often creations of modernity anyway. OTOH onboard flash freezing equipment for fisheries haven't hurt.
- voytec 4y agoIn Poland, steak tartare (raw ground beef with raw egg yolk, onion, fermented cucumber, pickled mushrooms, salt and pepper) has always been massively popular. In the 90s and 00s, raw yolk was optional due to "popularity" of salmonella. Raw beef meat was somehow still acceptable.
- Semaphor 4y agoIn Germany, "Tartar" is without egg or veggies, but more spices. Common, just like "Mett" which is raw ground pork with onions, salt and pepper.
- ant6n 4y agoIn some areas of Germany, they add a raw egg yolk into the raw pork or beef, and add minced onions, all to be eaten on breakfast bread.
- Semaphor 4y agoI might have to try that egg yolk thing some time ;) I usually eat the Mett out of a bowl with a spoon :D
- voytec 4y agoKogel-mogel is an example of a dessert made with raw eggs. Highly recommend, especially with a few drops of vodka or rum for tanginess. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kogel_mogel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kogel_mogel
- Semaphor 4y agoI specifically meant the raw pork combination. I use raw egg yolks to make ice cream already.
- smcl 4y agoI have never seen a pork version but here in Czech Republic they generally have beef steak tartare (tatarák) on topinka - bread that has been fried in oil. Often people rub garlic onto the bread before adding meat to it.
- tpm 4y agoFermented cucumber? Interesting, down here in Slovakia it's similar recipe only with pickled cucumber (and without mushrooms). Also some people add ketchup and a drop of worcester sauce.
- voytec 4y agoI've seen the terms pickling and fermenting used interchangeably so to explain: By fermentation of cucumbers and most non-starchy veggies, I mean lacto-fermentation with just veggies and brine (salty water). They become acidy over time as lactic acid bacteria do their magic and create a probiotic. Sauerkraut or kimchi are examples of fermented white cabbage and napa. Pickling involves using acid such as vinegar from the beginning.
- kuhewa 4y agoGets confusing though as in the anglophone west at least, 'Pickles' as a noun refer to lacto fermented cucumbers e.g. kosher dills
- int_19h 4y agoIn the anglophone West, most pickled products contain vinegar, even when they're labelled "kosher style", so it's simply the only term that many people are familiar with. In US, some aren't even aware that you can ferment veggies in brine.
- kuhewa 4y agoSure. My point is simply people can be referring to lacto-fermented cucumbers without realising it. The vinegar is often added for shelf stabilisation of fermented cukes is my understanding.
- tpm 4y agoYeah, I know the difference as we also ferment cucumbers, in the (Slovak) tartar recipe it's always pickled (in vinegar, dill etc). Also (napa) kimchi is something of an outlier to your rule of just veggies and brine, because the napa cabbage does not contain a lot of starch, rice flour (starch) and in some recipes sugar is added to aid the fermentation. This is not needed for the sauerkraut/kysla kapusta/kapusta kwaszona as it naturally contains enough sugars for the fermenting bacteria to feast on. But this is just me being pedantic, sorry.
- bsaul 4y agoSteak tartare is also very common in France
- eps 4y agoItaly, France, Switzerland - beef tartar is also popular and omni-present. It is also very good. Coming from a country where tartar doesn't exist it took an effort to decide and try it the first time, but if you are OK with medium rare steaks, the taste is similar and the texture is that of a rare burger (the meat is chopped up into tiny pieces). Seasoning and condiments take it to the next level, so it's absolutely not like biting off a raw steak or chewing on a spoonful of ground meat :)
- Biologist123 4y agoIn Germany, raw pork is consumed. As a non-German, this was an extremely surprising thing to learn as in the Anglosphere it seems that consumption of raw pork is possibly a stronger taboo than consumption of dog or horse meat. I spoke to a German doctor about the issue who explained that all pigs are inspected for parasites at slaughter and it’s relatively rare - but not totally absent - for consumers to get a tapeworm.
- arcticbull 4y agoSimilarly raw chicken is consumed in Japan. [1] The pork thing is also a bit of momentum. It was problematic to eat raw pork in the US before 1980 when Congress passed the Swine Health Protection Act. This prohibited feeding swine with trichinella-contaminated food, which was the parasite most likely to get you sick. [2] The risk these days is almost negligible and we're seeing restaurants starting to serve pork cooked pink in the middle. [3] [1] https://matadornetwork.com/read/raw-chicken-sashimi-tokyo/ https://matadornetwork.com/read/raw-chicken-sashimi-tokyo/ [2] https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/!ut/p/z0/fY7LDoIwFES_hqW5xRjUJVEDPuIaummuWOjF0kJbfPy9hJUrl2fmZDLAoQBu8EkNBrIG9cQlT8Q13mVss4ov2WEfszTfHs_5OmEsW8IJ-H9hWqB2GHgKvLImyHeAAntFXsxogtB0c-g-EfMo7OhEbavRz4SGOtRCSdRB_SZ38hK9FGRq67r57FS_yMiI2aCkW_TONg47D_2Dl1_8VLNw/ https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/anima... [3] https://www.seriouseats.com/case-for-raw-rare-pink-pork-food-safety https://www.seriouseats.com/case-for-raw-rare-pink-pork-food...
- stubish 4y agoUndercooked pork is still a problem as it can transmit viruses such as Hepatitis E. Like chicken, you really need to know and trust your source.
- fomine3 4y agoEating raw chicken is generally considered to stupid in Japan, unlike fish, horse or beef. It's shame that some restaurant provides that. Almost all people don't eat random raw chicken at home, but some eat at restaurant. Maybe alcohol drinks makes wrong risk evaluation. https://www.fukushihoken.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/shokuhin/eng/faq/category06/55.html https://www.fukushihoken.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/shokuhin/eng/faq/... It's not a traditional food in most area, but just stupid. Kyushu is exceptional. https://dime.jp/genre/1246382/ https://dime.jp/genre/1246382/
- stubish 4y agoIt has been around a while in the west. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak_tartare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak_tartare gives you some history on raw meat in Europe and America and some jumping off points. Raw liver was the traditional treatment for pernicious anemia. Quality and freshness of meat is a big concern. You didn't eat raw meat in warm climates before refrigeration, or if you can't source top grade meat uncontaminated by the slaughtering process. And even then you need to inspect for parasites.
- cpach 4y agoThere’s also ceviche which is not exactly raw, but not heated either. Seems like the history of that dish goes way back. https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2021/05/ceviche-the-surprising-history-behind-perus-raw-fish-dish https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2021/05/ceviche-...
- colechristensen 4y agoIndustrial foods with a supply chain have to be extremely careful with raw meat because of the many opportunities for spoilage. If you produce the meat yourself or it is done very locally, you have the opportunity to get it very fresh with many fewer concerns. The sweet spot for foodbourne illness is industrial scale before rigorous inspections and processes (and refrigeration). That sweet spot fits a lot of people’s grandparents growing up timeframe. Raw animal products have been consumed forever, what and how are obviously very cultural. During food supply chain industrialization, raw meat became considerably more unsafe and plenty of people were warned. Now we can get clean food the opportunity to eat raw meat is back and slowly gaining popularity. If you don’t grow up doing it though, there’s a good chance you’ll never be comfortable with it.
- kuhewa 4y agoIt's also that issue of globalisation where a 1 in 10000 rate of severe food poisoning per annum might means there might be an outbreak in a small village once per generation, but in a large country it would make the nightly news regularly.
- whateverman23 4y ago> My family personally doesn't eat anything raw because of the news reports we've read of people getting sick (or worse) after consuming raw meat, and we make sure to only eat fully cooked meat. Surely you have access to better sources that say otherwise? You seem to be admitting that you're stuck in your ways and unwilling to try new things because of old or inaccurate news.
- heavenlyblue 4y agoDo you also not go to Paris because there was a terrorist act a few years ago?