Somehow I missed this tradition when living in Wisconsin. Well, it is the Tavern state.

State officials in Wisconsin are warning some families to think twice before indulging in the time-honored holiday tradition of eating raw ground-beef sandwiches.

If you haven't heard, yes, this is indeed a Wisconsin delicacy, better known as "cannibal sandwiches" or even "tiger meat."

As Wisconsin Public Radio notes, this "misunderstood" practice goes back generations, and is especially popular in Milwaukee and the southeastern part of the state — though it's also been reported throughout the Upper Midwest.

Of course, eating raw meat carries some significant risks (such as contracting Salmonella and E. coli), so ahead of the holidays — when cannibal sandwiches are traditionally enjoyed — the Wisconsin Department of Health is reminding citizens of the dangers:


So you might be asking, what's so bad about cannibal sandwiches when people eat things like steak tartare (a raw meat dish) in fancy restaurants? Good question.


As the Today Show explains, ground beef — the key ingredient in cannibal sandwiches — is more susceptible to cross-contamination because of the way it's processed, which involves using various pieces of machinery to break down large cuts of meat into smaller portions.

Steak tartare, meanwhile, uses high-quality fresh meat that typically comes from just one cut, as opposed to several.

Wisconsin Public Radio does have some tips for slightly safer raw-meat eating, if you absolutely must have a cannibal sandwich — but we here at BringMeTheNews prefer our meat cooked.

Just sayin'.

https://bringmethenews.com/min...-raw-meat-sandwiches

Sounds like an adaptation of the Dutch broodje tartaar. I eat those when I'm in Netherlands.


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This message has been edited. Last edited by: ensigmatic,

quote:

Excluding a dire survival scenario like, say, that of the Donner Party or the Siege of Leningrad, I just don't understand some of the things people willingly eat.

Agree 100%...although if I was involved in the siege of Leningrad, I'd probably still employ the smoldering remains of my neighbor's house to cook whatever scavenged meat product I might have on hand before consuming it. Raw meat is nasty.

Health officials won't have to worry about reminding me.

I like steak tartare, but not from 'burger. Atop some seeded rye, with slices of really spicy onion, mmmmm!!!

I grew up in Wisconsin and never heard of anything this stupid. Most the stupid stuff involved beer.

^^^^^^^^^
You did notice it was the folks from Minnesota that wrote the article. LOL

I grew up eating a bit of raw burger. I love it. Had food poisoning from an undercooked restaurant burger 20+ years ago and that pretty much ended my eating of extra rare burgers and raw ground beef even though all we buy is locally grown and ground burger.

I still however slice several bites worth off of my steaks before I head to the grill. with a bit of salt and pepper raw steak is excellent.

I have no qualms eating quality raw sushi, beef sashimi, steak tartar, etc.

But there's no way in hell I'd eat raw hamburger meat. Too many opportunities to introduce bacteria, and it's usually not the freshest or highest quality beef anyway.

Carpaccio. Yum.

I ate my share of steak tartare when I lived in Stevens Point, washed down with Point Beer.
When the smelt were running,I’d schedule work in Manitowoc, Two Rivers, Sheboygan just anywhere along Lake Michigan.

....and I thought Utah was weird lol

It's definitely a staple at Milwaukee area family Christmas parties.

Tried it once as a teen. Don't know if was prepared from a larger cut, or straight
ground beef, but I survived. The flavor was "meh". Texture, even more so.
Perhaps steak tartare is better, but I haven't tried that.

My dad's side of the family is heavily Norwegian. He told me about church dinners
with lutefisk being served.

Check that out. Fish pickled in lye...

Double nope.

I have now been so reminded. They needn’t have bothered. For me anything beef south of medium needs more time on a cooking surface.

In the ten years my parents lived in SE Wisconsin, steak tartare along with smoked salmon were served at the staff Christmas party my parents hosted. It was delicious. I like putting it on Pinahs rye chips.

The NANNY state again.....screw them.

Just had several cannibal sandwiches last week at my work. There is a small German style butcher shop in the small towns that sell spiced raw meat. On rye bread with onions it is actually very good. But I can only do it once a year. I have not died yet.

Trichinosis does occur in Beef. You may not 'die' from an infestation but it will affect your overall health. And since it is rare in the US, it is seldom diagnosed as the reason for poor health. But when the 'cysts' are forming in your muscle tissue and the critters are abundant in your gut, you may then realize there is a reason to cook meat, regardless of the source. Burger as kid was delicious as were raw eggs but not in todays world!

I dunno: if people aren’t concerned about the small chance of dying from the C19, why worry about an upset stomach or anything else that won’t kill us from raw meat?

(All my meat is cooked before I eat it; it’s one of those things we humans learned to do a long time ago, but if someone wants to get in touch with his “paleo” past before we figured out that fire thing, who are the rest of us to interfere with his choices? )