Steak tartare or tartar steak is a dish of raw ground (minced) beef. It is usually served with onions, capers, mushrooms, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and other seasonings, often presented separately, to be added to taste. It is often served on top with a raw egg yolk. It is similar to the Levantine kibbeh nayyeh, the Turkish çiğ köfte, the Korean yukhoe and the widely known Japanese sashimi. The name tartare is sometimes generalized to other raw meat or fish dishes. In France, a less-common variant called tartare aller-retour is a mound of mostly raw ground meat lightly seared on both sides. History The Tatars and raw meat A popular caricature of Mongol warriors—called Tatars or Tartars—has them tenderizing meat under their saddles, then eating it raw. This story was popularized by the French chronicler Jean de Joinville in the 13th century, although he never actually encountered Mongols himself and used the story as a way of showing that the Tartars were uncivilized. It is possible that this story was a confusion originating in the use of thin slices of meat to protect saddle sores from further rubbing. This has also been considered as the origin of pastirma. Popularization of raw meat in Europe and the United States In the late 19th century, the Hamburg steak became popular on the menus of many restaurants in the port of New York. This kind of fillet was beef minced by hand, lightly salted, and often smoked, and usually served raw in a dish along with onions and bread crumbs. Hamburg steak gained popularity because of its ease of preparation and decreasing cost. This is evident from its detailed description in some of the most popular cookbooks of the day. Documents show that this preparation style was used by 1887 in some U.S. restaurants and was also used for feeding patients in hospitals; the Hamburg steak was served raw or lightly cooked and was accompanied by a raw egg. It is not known when the first restaurant recipe for steak tartare appeared. While not providing a clear name, it is possible that the dish was popularized in Paris by restaurateurs who misunderstood Jules Verne's description of "Koulbat" ("...a patty of crushed meat and eggs...") in his 1875 novel Michael Strogoff. Origins of the name In the early 20th century, what is now generally known as "steak tartare" was called steak à l'Americaine in Europe.