In the Raw!

I did something yesterday that my 3 daughters will give me a lecture about but is was something I thoroughly enjoyed. I stopped at the supermarket and bought a pound of freshly ground sirloin and a loaf of German rye bread. I then went home and fixed a sandwich that my father first gave me when I was a small boy. A Raw Hamburger Sandwich! This is a very common sandwich in Germany where he is from.

Recipe:

2 slices German Pumpernickel Bread

1/3 lb. ground sirloin, must be freshly ground and bright red.

Diced Onions

Generous sprinkle of salt.

For those of you who have not tried it you probably never will, I think it's something you had to taste as a small child when your inhibitions were less. There are all kinds of fears spread about salmonella and other germs and toxic substances in our food but I can tell you that when I was growing up the sanitary conditions of where you bought meat were not the best. You only had a choice between the corner grocery store and a butcher shop if you were a city kid like me. In either case the butcher usually was a guy with a mustache and a blood stained apron cutting meat on a huge wood chopping block which probably only got cleaned once a week if that often and then it was not sanitised . Ours had a hand cranked meat grinder that was used to make hamburger and sausage. The sausage by the way was stuffed into the intestines of a hog, tied with string and cut into links. There were usually flies swarming around and I would not be surprised that some found their way into the grinder while it was running. There were sticky fly strips hanging from the ceiling. The reason the butchers apron was so bloody was that he did not wash his hands between customers, Our butcher did not even have a sink available to do so. He did however have a small galvanized bucket which held about a quart of beer which he made sure was always with him. After griding the meat he put it in a tray which he put in a refrigerated meat case with the meats displayed toward you, I often wondered how long some of them lay there before you bought them?

The conditions today are much more sanitary than they were then and the problems you read about with recalls are found it monstrous plants that process millions of pounds of beef with meat usually imported from other countries such as Argentina, between there and your table are many opportunities for contamination.

Anyway, The sandwich was great and I have enough left for one more RAW! sandwich and one grilled on a bun with pickle and onion, another one of my favorites. You are all invited for lunch.