May
2008
Raw Meat
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Talk about Primal…
It’s about the most primal, albeit not necessarily attractive, image you can conjure: dirty, disheveled, muscular cavepeople in rough animal skins and furs partaking of the uncooked prize from the latest hunting endeavor (or perhaps another predator’s leftovers). Fast forward to today. Our more “civilized,” better dressed, contemporary selves follow the maître d’ and sit down to intricately painted dinnerware and linen napkins to partake of, you guessed it, raw meat. And then pay big bucks for it, to boot. Sushi, steak tartare, carpaccio: they’re considered delicacies of sorts. And while sushi has caught on in the last twenty years or so, Saveur still calls steak tartare a “forbidden pleasure.”
For some of us, raw meat of some variety is regular fare. For others, well, it just gives us the willies. Our culture, among the biggest meat lovers, seems to have the hardest time envisioning it in its more “natural” state. We have grills the size of Texas, after all. The closest we usually get to the primal side is using a spit. But raw meat in some form or another has a hold on virtually every other culture. Raw fish dishes, in particular, are common in many Asian cultures. A number of Middle Eastern cultures enjoy recipes with raw goat meat. Inuit cultures eat raw fish and reindeer as a regular and primary part of their diet.
Proponents of raw meat claim that any kind of cooking reduces the healthfulness of meat. And then there’s the issue of cooking-associated toxins like HCAs and AGEs. Yet, let’s face it. We don’t live in primal times. Conventionally raised and mass processed meats carry a higher risk of bacterial contamination (think E. coli and salmonella among others), and that’s serious business.
But not all meats carry the same threat. Those who eat raw meat as a regular part of their diets often seek out small farms and game butchers to ensure healthier conditions and the likelihood of healthier meats to begin with. Sushi connoisseurs choose restaurants that have strict “sushi grade” standards for their fish. The FDA doesn’t regulate that label, but it does require that all raw fish other than tuna be frozen at temperatures cold enough to kill parasites. Some chefs freeze the meat to 70 degrees below zero and claim there’s no detectable difference in taste or texture.
Harriet V. Kuhnlein, Professor of Human Nutrition at the Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment at McGill University in Montreal believes that raw meat is a healthy option, provided it’s clean: “Every time you process or cook something — anything — you are likely to be losing nutrients at every step. As long as this meat is still microbiologically safe, it is at its best raw or frozen fresh.”
There are a few groups who are strongly advised against eating raw or undercooked meats: pregnant women or those trying to conceive, young children, “the elderly” (not our word), patients receiving chemotherapy or those who are taking immunosuppressant medications, and people with weakened immune systems.
So, what to do if you’re interested in giving raw meat a try? Source matters. We suggest you shop carefully. Ideally, you should know the farmer and the processor. When going raw, cleaner is even more important. Put your meat in deep freeze if you want to have that added peace of mind about parasites. (Freezing is acceptable to most raw foodies, but they do contend that freezing kills the natural enzymes of foods.)
Consider using alcohol based dips and especially marinades (port wine, vodka, etc.) that may help kill bacteria. Citrus based marinades are thought to be somewhat helpful in this regard, but don’t count on them to do as much as a good ounce of alcohol. Better to mix the two if your taste calls for it. Finally, if the head is willing but the stomach is weak, try searing the meat and leaving the middle uncooked. Add a flavorful dip, and you’ve got yourself the best of the primal and contemporary in one tasty tidbit. We’ll call it primal fusion.
So, what do you think of raw meat? Thoughts, questions, recipes, raves?
jelleprins, Alexandre Chang, obscene pickle, ulterior epicure Flickr Photos (CC)
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It is so hard to find good steak tartare in the US anymore. Most trendy places have switched to tuna tartare or some other permutation…but it just ain’t even close.
So can the human body process all types of raw (fresh, clean) meat–pork, chicken, rabbit, etc.?
I’ve recently switched to raw eggs for breakfast. Can’t beat the prep time. Would love to eat raw meat more often, for the convenience alone.
It’s difficult to get a feel for the real risks because there is so much overblown anti-bacterial nonsense going on these days.
Maria,
Humans can handle any and all types of animal flesh. We have millions of years of practice!
I would love to try raw steak or fish, provided it was prepared in some way. I don’t know if I could just tear it off the bone raw… And I still feel squicky about raw chicken or other birds, but I understand that it’s due to socialization.
I’ve been trying to get more comfortable with dealing with meats, really tearing a chicken carcass apart to get everything or crockpotting bone-in meat instead of deboned. I used to live on ramen, and let my DH cook any meat for the most part. But awhile ago I realized that I would have to get over the squicky feelings and just deal with it. If everyone else through all of history could do it, then so can I.
Sometimes I still go “yeugh” at certain things, but when I consider how the meat I used to eat was processed for me (fast food & packaged stuff) I realize that it’s way less disgusting to handle it myself.
Sorry to tangent, the point is that mentally, yes, I do want to eat raw meat. But I think I need to first get handle on some of the more basic stuff to get to that point.
FRESH (not frozen and thawed) raw tuna. Maguro. Mmmmm. Flesh that melts in your mouth. Mmmmm.
I did try sushi and sashimi when we lived in Japan, but didn’t care for the texture.
I used to like my steaks medium. Now I prefer them almost rare, so much more flavor and so tender!
Don’t think I can manage uncooked chicken!
Thanks for the article! I’m regular raw meat/eggs/salmon eater and I find it easier to recover at DOMS when I have eaten raw food after gym training instead of prepared. Anyone noticed the same?
pet cats used to be fed scraps of real food - including raw meat, since the pet food con merchants got in on the act, they discovered that early recipes caused cats to decline in health - they discovered that cooking the meat destroyed an essential protein - purine i believe - so they lived once it was added. of course they don’t consider problem of diabetes and obesity caused by the rice the put in cat (junk)food- ever seen a wild cat eat rice? - me neither
oops - correction
taurine is the amino acid that is destroyed by cooking meat
so raw meat is more complete - it may even be more easily digested
m
Yup, Markus, it’s taurine which is destroyed in cooked cat food. Taurine is abundant in heart tissue, but not skeletal muscle, so even feeding raw meat scraps night not provide enough. I prepare raw chicken (www dot catnutrition dot org for the recipe) for my two cats with a heavy duty grinder, though the heart muscle is often difficult to source in the quantities I need, so I have to add taurine capsules.
Plus, cats need calcium from the raw bones to balance the phosphorus in the skeletal meat. That’s why I cut and grind up the chicken, bones and all. Cooked bones are too brittle and shouldn’t be fed to animals. An additional benefit to this “species appropriate” cat food is that the feces don’t smell at all in the litter box, and dry up quickly, like coyote skat. Cat’s GI tracts are so acidic and short that there isn’t much residue left of the meat, organs, and bones.
Heather, if you have a dog or cat and started to feed raw food regularly, you would quickly adjust to handling raw meat and poultry. My squeamish factor greatly reduced when I realized how much healthier my cats were on real food.
I’m intrigued by raw meats and probably could use the meat I get from direct farm sources (though I don’t know their butchers). I’ve had carpaccio in restaurants but not at home. I will eat sushi without a problem, but I don’t love it the way some people do. Maybe I’m too focused on remembering the names or the restaurant bill to enjoy it :-).
But mostly I am trying to find ways to cook organ meat (offal) in ways my family likes. If I can get somewhere with that, then I may branch into the raw meat route (I have pork and bison heart, liver, and kidney in the freezer now, waiting for inspiring recipes). But my son finds a certain Mr. Bean and Steak Tartare dvd skit so funny I might have a hard time serving it to him.
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I have always eaten my steak basically just warmed up. Then, since finding sites like this and learning more about nutrition in a year than I thought possible and finding a source of true grass pasture raised cow meat, I now occasionally eat straight up raw meat.
Not as an actual dish yet, though I don’t quanitfy dishes anymore, but while trimming grass fed sirloin off the bone for marinade once I tasted a piece and didn’t quite stop. Now whenever I prepare some true grass fed I seem to always eat at least a little or more raw, and it is so delicious!
I do the raw egg bit for breakfast too at times. I actually like to crack three into a half cup of grapefruit juice, stir lightly and swoosh!
Awesome site by the way!!! Thank you so much for sharing so much knowledge!