I
like carpaccio. My wife and Valentine, Michele, likes carpaccio. So for
us, a heart-shaped version of this classic Italian beef salad seems
nothing short of fabulous. Of course, I do understand that this isn’t
for everyone. If you don’t like, or more likely, are afraid of rare
meat, I don’t imagine you’ll be giving this a try.
That’s
perfectly fine, and we’re all too busy to bother trying to convert you
over to the red team. However, for people that do enjoy this classic
dish, and realize that properly handled, high-quality beef is no more
dangerous to eat raw than sushi, or a spinach salad, I think this would
make for a creative, and visually arresting start to their Valentine’s
Day dinner menu.
While
this preparation is fairly classic, I do like to keep my beef a little
bit thicker than is traditionally done. Most carpaccios are pounded
very, very thin, but if you’re using a really nice piece of beef
tenderloin, why smash it so flat? Since it’s naturally tender and
buttery, I like it to keep a little bit of its texture, instead of being
mashed too thin.
Another
tip is to season the meat generously. The salt is very important here,
almost as much as some kind of bracing salad tossed with a sharp, acidic
dressing. By the way, just because I went with arugula and traditional
lemon mustard dressing, doesn’t mean you can’t take this in other exotic
directions.