In modern cooking, there are dozens of options for preparing the Italian dish Carpaccio. But their essence is the same: the product must be cut as thinly as possible and seasoned with spices, because the most important thing in this dish is the cutting method.
What is Carpaccio
Famous Italian chef Giuseppe Cipriani first came up with the idea for such a meat snack. Once Countess Amalia Nani Mocenigo came to the establishment where the above-mentioned Italian worked as a cook. The woman was in an unusually bad mood: doctors forbade her to eat meat fried, boiled, baked or thermally processed in any other way. And what should she do now, not eat raw meat! She sadly shared this problem with the cook.
Cipriani, without thinking twice, went to the kitchen, where he took out a frozen piece of beef from the freezer. In a bowl I mixed mayonnaise sauce, some milk, Worcestershire sauce and a couple of drops of lemon juice. Cutting off the finest pieces of beef, he laid them out on a plate and sprinkled them generously with freshly made sauce. The visitor was delighted with such an attentive attitude towards customers, and she really liked the dish itself.
The recipe quickly became popular and had to be named somehow. Its name comes from the name of the Italian Renaissance artist Kittore Carpaccio, whose exhibition was just taking place in Venice. Inspired by the works of a skilled painter, Giuseppe Cipriani dedicated the name of his invention to him. This whole story took place in the middle of the 20th century in Venice, in an institution called "Harry's Bar".
Currently, the name "Carpaccio" refers not so much to the frozen beef dish as to the way the product is cut. In modern restaurants, this Italian word is even called a plate with thinly sliced fruits or vegetables.
How to make a classic carpaccio snack at home
First of all, you need to choose a very fresh and high quality beef tenderloin. The meat will not be cooked, so this step is the most important. Don't buy beef that has rainbow colors or has black or greenish spots on it.
It should be pure red, without any blotches of extraneous colors. The fat on the meat should be pure white; on old beef, the fat darkens and turns yellow. Chunks may be slightly damp, but are best when the meat is dry and firm. If there is wet meat covered with mucus on the counter - feel free to pass by, this is a low-quality product. When the meat is purchased, you can start cooking.
You will need:
- Beef tenderloin - 200 grams;
- Homemade mayonnaise - 50 grams;
- Milk - 1 tablespoon;
- Worcester (Worcestershire) sauce - a few drops;
- Lemon juice - 1 teaspoon
- A pinch of salt.
Beef tenderloin should be cooked on the day of purchase. We clean it from veins and fat. We put it in a plastic bag or film and send it to the freezer for 2 hours. We mix all the ingredients of the sauce with each other.
After 2 hours, we take out the beef and begin to cut off the thinnest pieces from it. To do this, it is better to use a special device - a slicer. Lay the beef on a plate in a thin layer and pour over the prepared sauce. An unusual delicacy is ready!
