'Cannibal sandwiches' sicken Wisconsin residents

[Jesus Malverde]

"Cannibal sandwiches," an appetizer featuring raw, lean ground beef served on cocktail bread, may be a Wisconsin tradition, but they are not safe, health officials said, noting that more than a dozen people became ill after consuming them last holiday season.

Health officials confirmed four cases tied to E. coli bacteria and 13 likely cases in people who ate the sandwiches at several gatherings late last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a report issued this week. The meat came from a Watertown market that later recalled more than 2,500 pounds of meat.

Cannibal sandwiches were tied to outbreaks in Wisconsin in 1972, 1978 and 1994. The appetizer, also called "tiger meat," ''steak tartare" or simply "ground beef," is usually a simple dish of lean ground meat seasoned with salt and pepper on rye cocktail bread with sliced raw onion, said Milwaukee historian John Gurda, who served it at his 1977 wedding reception. Occasionally, a raw egg will be mixed with the meat.

Cannibal sandwiches have been a festive dish in German, Polish and other ethnic communities in the Milwaukee area since the 19th century, Gurda said. The 66-year-old said it was once common to see them at wedding receptions, meals following funerals and Christmas and New Year's Eve parties. The dish has become less common in recent years with greater awareness of the risks of uncooked meat and fewer people eating beef, but Gurda said he still runs into it.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Cannibal-sandwiches-sicken-Wisconsin-residents-5039064.php

[immoderate]

1. I know -- but it sounds delicious.

--imm

[loli phabay]

3. it sure does, need me some steak now.

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. They called that stuff "tiger meat" when I was growing up in the Dakotas a few decades ago.

[struggle4progress]

4. Steak tartare

[badtoworse]

5. Can't help but remembering when my then girlfriend ordered steak tartare well done.

We had lots of laughs over that one.

[Blue_Tires]

6. I'd do the same

I prefer all my meats burned to a crisp, and then let it stay on the grill another 10 minutes for good measure...

[badtoworse]

8. Sounds like my sister in law. I cringe when I ruin a nice rib-eye for her

[Retrograde]

12. I've had steak tartare in France that was seared on the outside

It was passed under a broiler just enough to get the outsides seared, while the inside was still raw. Delish - but you expect that from the French.

I still eat raw beef and lamb on occasion, but with reservations. No supermarket ground beef for one (it's too fatty for decent steak tartare anyway). I've found my food processor does a good job of mincing meat, so I either use that or spend the time to mince it by hand, starting with a cut from a place that has real butchers: nothing shrink-wrapped at the plant and passed through who knows how many hands.

Steak tartar still makes the occasional appearance at restaurants. I think I confused one waiter once by ordering it as an appetizer together with a vegan entree.

[badtoworse]

13. That does sound good.

When I was a kid, my mother ground her own beef. I would eat some uncooked with a little salt and pepper - it was delicious. I tried that around my wife and she was thoroughly grossed out.

[jollyreaper2112]

7. Outback

I go in there and ask them if it's true what they say, no rules. Waitress says yeah. I ordered steak tatare. She said she can't do that, it has to be cooked. "Lies! All lies!" I shout.

[madmom]

9. I used to eat these all the time when I was a kid, not so much anymore, don't

trust the industry and can't do it myself.

[FarCenter]

10. This would be a good application for X-rays to kill the pathogens

X-rays to kill the pathogens would still leave the meat uncooked.

It would also not generate all those nitrosamines and other cancer-causing chemicals that result from broiling, roasting, or other high-temperature cookery.

[RebelOne]

11. I am a vegetarian now, but during my carnivore days,

I would eat ground round raw with salt and pepper. And all my steaks were extremely rare.