Posted: December 10th, 2010 - 12:28pm by Doug Powell

The Bergen Record, somewhere in north Jersey, ran a story on Dec. 8, 2010 entitled, Tartar steak and roquefort cheese log.

Tartar steak sounds gross but could be microbiologically safe. Unless the author, Susan Leigh Sherill, was referring to steak eaten by Tartars, the combined forces of central Asian peoples including Mongols and Turks who, under the leadership of Genghis Khan, conquered much of Asia and eastern Europe in the early 13th century. I can’t vouch for the safety of what they ate.

The roquefort cheese log is material enough for another post.

Some Americans, like the dead chef, James Beard, I guess dropped the ‘e’ in tartare as too Frenchy. Whatever, the stuff is raw beef and raw eggs, but James Beard’s American Cookery – cocktail food chapter, states, "This way of serving it has convinced many people that raw meat can be thoroughly delicious."

Choose your poisons.

But the crime is when Jersey Susan writes,

“Make sure you buy your beef from a good butcher who understands that you will be serving it raw. I got mine from Rosario's Market in Montclair.”

That’s nice, but unless your butcher has meat goggles to provide divine insight into the microbiological components of raw beef and eggs, the statement is bio BS.

Stephen Colbert tried out meat goggles the other night.