Recipes
Beef Tartare: Hand-Cut Filet Mignon and the Classic Dressing
What matters most in tartare is the cut, not the seasoning. How to firm up and hand-cut filet mignon, what to mix it with and why you dress it only before serving. Plus safety rules for raw meat.
MYASYA team3 min readupdated
Ingredients
Serves 2 30 min
Tartare
- 250 g filet mignon
- 1 small shallot
- 1 tbsp capers
- 3–4 cornichons
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley or chives
- 2 very fresh egg yolks — to serve
Dressing
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- a few drops of Tabasco
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt, freshly ground black pepper
- toasted bread or potato crisps — to serve
Safety first
Tartare is raw meat, so three rules apply: cleanliness, cold and time. Thaw the cut only in the fridge, in its vacuum bag. Use a clean board and knife, keep every ingredient cold, and serve the tartare at once, no later than half an hour after dressing.
The cut is half the flavour
Cooks agree on one thing: if you ruin the cut, seasoning won't save it. A grinder crushes the fibres and warms the meat into a grey, sticky mass. A knife gives separate cubes that melt in the mouth yet keep their shape.
Step 1. Trim
Remove the silverskin and sinew. Use the centre of the fillet for tartare — it's the most even and tender. Save the tail and head for steaks or stroganoff.
Step 2. 20–30 minutes in the freezer
The meat should firm up on the outside without freezing. That way it's easy to cut thin and even.
Step 3. Slices, strips, dice
With your sharpest knife cut 3 mm slices, the slices into strips, the strips into cubes. Don't chop — slice: one stroke, no pressure.
Step 4. Straight into the cold
Put the cut meat in a bowl set over ice, or in the fridge under film.
Dressing and serving
Step 1. Finely chop the extras
Shallot, capers and cornichons — no larger than the meat. Big pieces overpower the beef.
Step 2. Mix the dressing separately
Mustard, Worcestershire, Tabasco, oil, salt and pepper. Taste it: the dressing should be bold, as the meat will mellow it.
Step 3. Combine just before serving
Gently fold the meat with the extras and dressing without mashing. Salt and acid draw out juice over time, so don't do this ahead.
Step 4. Shape and serve
In a ring on a cold plate, a yolk on top — in half a shell or simply in a hollow. Bread or crisps on the side.
The French tradition is to put mustard, Tabasco and Worcestershire on the table so everyone can adjust the tartare to taste.
Two variations
- Asian — instead of mustard and cornichons: soy sauce, a few drops of sesame oil, spring onion, toasted sesame. Serve on crispy rice crackers.
- With soy-cured yolk — cover the yolks with soy sauce diluted half and half with water for 3–4 hours in the fridge. They thicken and turn savoury and rich.
Astra filet mignon, chain on and chain off: cut weight and today's price.To the catalogue →
