Tatar Wołowy

The story

Tatar, listed on older Polish menus as befsztyk tatarski, is raw beef chopped by hand and served with a raw egg yolk and small heaps of sharp, salty garnishes. Older Polish recipes called for lean beef that was scraped or very finely chopped rather than ground, seasoned with oil, salt and pepper, and sometimes enriched with marinated mushrooms or sardines in oil. The name points east: a popular story holds that Tatar horsemen softened meat under their saddles, a tale Polish food writers today treat as legend. In Poland tatar is a przystawka, a starter. As one columnist in the weekly Wprost observed, even modest Polish bars bring it as a do-it-yourself set, so each guest works the onion, capers, mushrooms and other garnishes into the meat in proportions of their own, while at home it often arrives already mixed. Tenderloin is the usual cut; ligawa, a firmer lean cut, is the common alternative and is easier to chop without turning to mush. Current Polish recipes add pickled cucumber and mustard, and some use a few drops of Maggi or Worcestershire sauce in place of part of the salt. Set it out on chilled plates with buttered rye bread and a cold beer, and follow it with a hot main course.