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KamaAina

(78,249 posts)
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 01:20 PM Dec 2013

'Cannibal sandwiches' sicken Wisconsin residents

http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Cannibal-sandwiches-sicken-Wisconsin-residents-5039064.php

"Cannibal sandwiches," an appetizer featuring raw, lean ground beef served on cocktail bread, may be a Wisconsin tradition, but they are not safe, health officials said, noting that more than a dozen people became ill after consuming them last holiday season....

Cannibal sandwiches were tied to outbreaks in Wisconsin in 1972, 1978 and 1994. The appetizer, also called "tiger meat," ''steak tartare" or simply "ground beef," is usually a simple dish of lean ground meat seasoned with salt and pepper on rye cocktail bread with sliced raw onion, said Milwaukee historian John Gurda, who served it at his 1977 wedding reception. Occasionally, a raw egg will be mixed with the meat.

Cannibal sandwiches have been a festive dish in German, Polish and other ethnic communities in the Milwaukee area since the 19th century, Gurda said. The 66-year-old said it was once common to see them at wedding receptions, meals following funerals and Christmas and New Year's Eve parties. The dish has become less common in recent years with greater awareness of the risks of uncooked meat and fewer people eating beef, but Gurda said he still runs into it....

Keith Meyer, who runs L&M Meats, a Kenosha butcher shop started by his father, recalled his German grandfather and other "old guys" gobbling the ground beef when he was growing up. With his grandfather gone, Meyer's family no longer serves the dish, but the 57-year-old said, "It's really not that bad, if you get by the texture of it."


I serve them with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
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In_The_Wind

(72,300 posts)
8. I've been eating it for many years.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 07:57 PM
Dec 2013

I stopped for about two years back during the time when bovine spongiform encephalopathy was a problem.

Locut0s

(6,154 posts)
9. I wouldn't worry about BSE as much given how rare it is...
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 08:48 PM
Dec 2013

I'd worry much more about ecoli and the like. Meat is handled really badly at processing plants.

In_The_Wind

(72,300 posts)
10. Ah. Back when BSE was a problem I found safe local butchers that I still trust.
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 09:00 PM
Dec 2013

As a result, I don't get sick from foodborne pathogen.

Locut0s

(6,154 posts)
11. Well that's good then, I was picturing...
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 09:12 PM
Dec 2013

I was picturing raw steak tartare from a Styrofoam container at your local Safeway. Yeah a local small butcher you know would be much safer.

Locut0s

(6,154 posts)
7. "Cannibal sandwich"? I thought it was just called ''steak tartare"...
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 07:47 PM
Dec 2013

That's a delicacy in many places. Never heard of the first name lol. It's long been known to be a risky dish to consume though, no?

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