What's with this raw meat thing?

[wafflycat]

One of the progs MrW likes to watch on the gogglebox is Masterchef. He uses it as a brief respite from working, and then gets back to being chained to his desk in the office. Indeed, I enjoy watching it too, even if, with the current series, Michel Roux Jnr looks as if he's on something with those mad, staring eyes, and Greg wotsisname, who has to SHOUT EVERYTHING THAT HE SPEAKS AS IF THAT MAKES HIM IMPORTANT...

What's with this serving raw meat, then? Much of the meat that is cooked, indeed much of the fish, is not just *rare* it's still *raw* in the middle. It's not just pink in the middle, it's oozing blood and due to the consistency of it, will still be cold in the middle, as the appearance & texture is unchanged. Sorry, but I don't want my duck, pork, lamb, etc., raw in the middle. Blech. If that's what is required of a Michelin star chef, forget it.

Then there's the current fashion of smearing various veggie purees across the plate as a vague excuse for a portion of mashed potato, or parsnip puree... I'm sorry, but it's served looking as if it's the smearings left on a plate at the end of a meal just before it's taken back into the kitchen for the leftovers to be wiped off the plate into a bin and the plate then washed.

And 'creme anglais' Pah! Wimpy watery excuse. Give me proper custard!

 

[fossyant]

Not for me either - I don't mind a little pinkness in a thick fillet, but a little only !

 

[Wolf04]

Wipe it's bum and slap it on a plate, the rarer the better. Steak Tartare is my favourite dish. Just returned from France where I had steak tartare a blue steak and raw scallops (not all in same meal)
All delicious.

 

[barq]

I quite like the presentation of the food, but ultimately it is for visual consumption not digestion. Same as catwalk fashions are interesting to watch but I wouldn't buy or wear them (even if I had the money, body...).

 

[Dayvo]

Some pink meat is OK!

Although my choice (on the rare occasions that I eat meat) would be for a medium-rare steak on a good grill.

 

[Hover Fly]

I believe about 80% of the French population carry Toxoplasmosis, caused at least partly by their eating raw rare meat.

 

[wafflycat]

Well Waffly, apart from in the UK, in most countries you can ask for your meat to be cooked as you like - and I like it seared on the outside and very undercooked on the inside - saignant or bleu as they say. And very good beef can be served raw ("tartare" as they say in the US or "filet americain" as they say here)

It's just a taste thing. But you are given a choice - it's not just overcooked or burnt.

I don't like purees much, apart from mashed potato.

But creme anglaise is custard - just not from a packet wih a bird on it!

Well Uncle Mort, here in the UK you can ask for your meat to be cooked as you like too. I don't mind rare, I don't mind pink in steak, but this stuff is still raw inside. Blech. Steak tartare is one thing, but these dishes are not that - it's as if every meat or fish still has to be raw inside for the judges to rate it positively.

Creme anglais isn't proper custard! Creme Anglais is a weedy substitute for proper custard which should be thick and delicious, not watery and wimpy.

 

[wafflycat]

Some pink meat is OK!

Although my choice (on the rare occasions that I eat meat) would be for a medium-rare steak on a good grill.

Indeed, I don't have a problem with pink - I do have a problem with still raw inside. Blech.

 

[yenrod]

> What's with this raw meat thing?


Botulism anyone ?

 

[John the Monkey]

...and I like it seared on the outside and very undercooked on the inside - saignant or bleu as they say.

+1 - nothing like it!

 

[bonj2]

nowt like a nice bit o' rare chicken.

 

[domtyler]

I simply like to attack a live animal with a blow torch, just until it lays down and stops breathing, then tuck in. (you'll need a sharp knife)

 

[wafflycat]

You can ask for it, but you don't usually get it : - and I speak fluent French (and Polish) . You have some of the best beef in Northern Europe and they still overcook it - grrrrrr!

And Creme Anglaise is custard - not the horrid stuff out of the packets

No, creme anglais is a namby-pamby forn invention which is thin and watery and not proper custard which is thick, creamy, sweet & delicious. Creme anglais pretends to be the correct stuff, but it's not custard! Proper custard is lovingly made with cream, vanilla, eggs... but it is *not* creme anglais. Creme anglais is a foul abomination!

 

[tdr1nka]

Gimme my stake 'blue'!
Most eateries in the UK will no longer serve steak this way for fear of H&S and the tiny possibility of being sued for poisoning someone.

FWIW-Toxoplasmosis can aslo be caught from eating unwashed raw fruit & veg and more commonly from emptying cat litter trays.
Food bourne Botchulism is pretty rare and generally to be found in home preserved/canned food.

 

[Mr Phoebus]

Crème anglaise... Devon knows how they make it so runny.