“My husband and I adore raw beef,” said Georgia Moody of Fircrest. “From carpaccio to pho to steak tartare, the more raw the better.”

Fred Huddle of Tacoma recalled his run-in with a raw beef patty in a Copenhagen automat 35 years ago.

“There was a great-looking hamburger in there,” Huddle said. “I put in the correct amount of coins, opened the window and took out the small dish. It was raw, but I assumed the attendant would cook it for me. She would not and seemed hurt that I’d ask her to do so. So I ate it a la Denmark, and it was good.”

Mike Collins of Puyallup recalled steak tartare in Paris. “It was served with a raw egg on top,” he said. “I loved it! The next day at breakfast I read a rather lengthy story on (mad cow disease) and how raw beef in Europe was not recommended for consumption. That was almost seven years ago, and I still don’t exhibit any of the symptoms. I just can’t stand anything well done.”

For beef-eating diners like these, here’s a rare piece of raw news worth sinking one’s teeth into: The worst E. coli infections this century did not directly involve beef. According to a recent Scripps Howard Newspapers study of food illness outbreak reports sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between Jan. 1, 2000, and Dec. 31, 2004, the vehicles that deliver the sometimes-deadly disease to the public are changing. In Washington, the state Health Department’s most recent figures report six E. coli outbreaks in 2005. None was conclusively attributed to beef.

“Produce is now becoming one of the primary vehicles for E. coli infections,” said Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, who consulted with Taco Bell on its recent E. coli outbreaks, which were traced to lettuce.

E. coli bacteria contaminates beef during slaughtering and processing. It’s most common in ground beef, which can contain contaminated exterior cuts along with uncontaminated interior muscle cuts. Muscle cuts – sirloins, tenderloins and other cuts used in raw beef dishes such as steak tartare and thinly sliced beef carpaccio – don’t contain E. coli bacteria unless they’ve been contaminated during processing and handling, butchers, ranchers and researchers say. In last year’s E. coli outbreak involving spinach, feral pigs are suspected of tracking infected cow feces through pastures and into produce fields. Waste-contaminated water and improper hygiene practices during picking and processing have also been linked to outbreaks. E. coli is more likely to occur among grain-fed cattle.

Doyle said steam pasteurization and acid rinses implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture have significantly reduced the threat of E. coli poisoning from slaughtered beef.

“I think the industry has had a wake-up call and is probably doing a better job than they were doing before,” said Joel Huesby, a Walla Walla cattle rancher who raises, slaughters and sells grass-fed beef under the Thundering Hooves brand. “You can eat raw steak.”

In the South Sound, a handful of restaurants serve raw steak dishes. El Gaucho and Baron Manfred Von Vierthaler in Bonney Lake serve steak tartare – toothsome pieces of chopped beef mixed with raw egg and crunchy vegetables. Pacific Grill and Il Fiasco serve buttery thin slices of beef carpaccio. Kokiri calls its hand-shredded raw beef appetizer Beef Sashimi. Thin slices of raw beef also grace bowls of pho, although they’re technically cooked by the Vietnamese noodle soup’s hot broth.

“It’s a traditional steakhouse item,” said Jon Sheard, maitre d’ at Tacoma’s El Gaucho, whose steak tartare appetizer is made to order with what he called “top-of-the-line” prime certified Angus sirloin. “I think the scare is over.”

Still, Sheard said, steak tartare isn’t a big seller, with about two orders per night accounting for about 4 percent of El Gaucho’s total sales. “We certainly don’t do as many of those as we do New York steaks,” he said.

For people who have issues with eating raw food – whether it’s out of squeamishness or a genuine health concern (elderly people, young children and people with compromised immune systems are more susceptible to food-borne bacteria) – the state requires disclaimers on restaurant menus.

“No customers to my knowledge have expressed concerns about raw beef,” said Gordon Naccarato, chef-owner of Pacific Grill in Tacoma. “Although we have to, by law, point out that they ‘shouldn’t be eating raw beef products’ – the standard ‘Big Brother’ lawyer lawsuit-prevention warnings.”

Restaurants that serve steak tartare and beef carpaccio note that they take extra caution when preparing raw beef dishes. At El Gaucho, chef Ken Sharp and his crew reserve one cutting board for chopping beef for steak tartare. Sharp said he takes special care to sanitize knives and cutting surfaces.

“The carpaccio is cut to order from a whole-muscle filet mignon,” Pacific Grill’s Naccarato said. “This is never made in advance.”

Preparing raw beef dishes from muscle cuts is important.

“If there’s any E. coli on the beef, it’s always on the exterior part of the meat,” said butcher Dave Wenstad, owner of Dave’s Meat and Produce in Tacoma. “That’s how E. coli gets into ground beef: You’re grinding exterior beef with interior muscles. If you’re going to eat raw meat, you’ve got to make sure everything is sanitary and there is no bacteria.”

If you’re going to prepare steak tartare or carpaccio at home, Wenstad recommends buying your meat from a butcher first thing in the morning “when everything is cleaned and sanitized. I would only do it as a preordered kind of thing.”

Wenstad said sirloins, tenderloins, New Yorks and rib-eyes make good tartare cuts, but El Gaucho’s Sheard cautions against using filet mignon. “Filet is too tender,” Sheard said. “It doesn’t have enough tooth to it.”

Wenstad said he doesn’t get as many requests for tartare as he did when he first became a butcher 30 years ago.

“My dad would ask for it, but honestly, no one’s ever asked me for it,” said Jason Gasbarra, manager of Metropolitan Grill in Seattle, which doesn’t serve steak tartare for what Gasbarra called “liability” reasons.

“Properly prepared with an ultraclean meat grinder and served with all of the condiments on the side so I can mix it with a raw egg on top is my idea of a perfect steak,” said Bob Hammar of University Place. “It’s always a gamble when you order a steak cooked rare and then get it cooked all the way through. I have eaten steak tartare from Paris to Tahiti. I love the texture and like to enjoy it with a glass or two of red wine. “

Some like it raw

Editor's note: As noted in the story above, elderly people, young children and people with compromised immune systems are more susceptible to food-borne bacteria. If in doubt, don’t eat it.

Steak Tartare

Yield: 6 servings

11/4 pounds fresh sirloin, finely chopped

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

4 anchovy fillets, finely chopped

2 teaspoons ketchup

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Tabasco sauce to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 ounce Cognac

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 ounces capers, rinsed

2 ounces cornichons, finely chopped

4 sprigs parsley

Place the egg yolks in a large stainless steel bowl. Add the mustard and anchovies. Mix well. Add the ketchup, Worcestershire, Tabasco and pepper. Mix well. Slowly whisk in the oil. Add Cognac. Mix. Fold in onions, capers, cornichons and parsley.

Divide the meat among 6 chilled dinner plates. Form the meat into mounds or place into a ring mold to create discs. Remove ring mold, if using.

Serve immediately, with toasted bread.

Source: “Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook”

Beef Sashimi

Yield: 2 servings

4 ounces American-style Kobe beef sirloin or other good-quality sirloin

2 garlic gloves, grated

Ginger, sliced into juilenne strips

Chives, chopped

2 teaspoons white sesame seeds, toasted

Yuzu Soy Sauce (recipe follows)

3 ounces olive oil

2 teaspoons sesame oil

Cut the beef into thin slices, about 1/8-inch thick.

Arrange the beef slices on a serving plate. Spread a little grated garlic over each slice, and top with the ginger and chives. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle with Yuzu Soy Sauce.

Mix the olive oil and sesame oil in a small frying pan and heat until the oils begin to smoke. Spoon a bit of oil over each slice of beef. Serve immediately.

Note: Raw beef is easier to slice if it’s chilled in the freezer. Cover the slices of beef with a sheet of plastic wrap. Pound them lightly with a rolling pin to stretch them out.

Yuzu Soy Sauce

31/2 ounces soy sauce

3 tablespoons yuzu juice

Mix ingredients together in a bowl.

Note: Yuzu, or Japanese citron, is zestier than lemon. Yuzu juice is available at Asian supermarkets. Substitute lemon juice if you wish.

Source: “Nobu Now” by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa

HERE’S THE RAW BEEF

Here are some delicious raw beef appetizers at South Sound restaurants.

Steak tartare, El Gaucho, Tacoma

This appetizer is mixed tableside. Anchovies and garlic are muddled together. Grey Poupon is mixed in, followed by capers, onions, raw egg yolk and Worcestershire sauce. Chopped sirloin is mixed in. The mixture is mounded on a plate and finished with a splash of Courvoisier. It’s served with toasted bread and slices of tomato. Capers and onions give the snappy sirloin zesty bite, cognac adds a smooth dimension, but garlic permeates.

Beef sashimi at Kokiri, Federal Way

Chilled beef is cut into fine strands and seasoned with sesame oil. Mounded atop lettuce and matchsticks of Asian pear, the glistening raw beef is ringed with sliced garlic and crowned with a raw egg yolk, scallions and sesame seeds.

Beef carpaccio at Pacific Grill, Tacoma

Filet mignon is sliced to order and pounded to paper thinness. Generously seasoned with sea salt and olive tapenade, the beef glistens and melts like butter on the palate. Cracked peppercorns and allspice berries lend a zesty edge, as do shavings of reggiano cheese. Fried capers, arugula, crispy shallots and fried onions round out the appetizer.

Beef carpaccio at Il Fiasco, Tacoma

Chilled, paper-thin slices of certified Angus sirloin are drizzled in an Italian cipriani sauce of Worsteshire, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard and lemon juice. A coarse sprinkle of salt and pepper adds tooth to the tenderness. Served with shaved honeydew melon.

Ed Murrieta, The News Tribune