• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Polish Housewife

Polish recipes served up with tidbits of folklore, customs, and history

  • Home
  • Polish Recipes
    • Polish Breads
    • Polish Soups
    • Polish Mains & Sides
    • Polish Desserts
    • Polish Pantry
    • Polish Beverages & Liqueurs
  • Recipes
    • Appetizer
    • Beverage
    • Salad Dressing
    • Salads
    • Soup
    • Stew
    • Main
    • Vegetables
    • Dessert
  • About
  • Expat Life
    • Art
    • Concerts
    • Crime
    • Current Events
    • Daily life
    • Dining Out
    • Euro 2012
    • Events
    • Holidays
    • Museums
    • People
    • Pets
    • Sightseeing
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • New? Start Here
  • Store
  • Polish Cookbook

Befszyk Tatarski (Steak Tartare)

June 9, 2017 by Lois Britton 9 Comments

Befszyk Tatarski (Steak Tartare) is popular in Poland, so much so that you can buy commercially prepared packets for ground beef for tatar. It’s something I hadn’t eaten until I moved to Poland.

We enjoyed it in restaurants and our friend Bill made Befszyk Tatarski for us when we dined at his home. We had a fabulous batch when we vacationed in the Czech town of Pilsen with our youngest daughter.

We were eating a steak house near our hotel, and they had a special platter for tartar, with a little compartments for the many add-ins that accompany the ground beef, and diners mix it up themselves.

Polish Befszyk Tatarski

The history of Befszyk Tatarski or Steak Tartare, of course, has a couple of interesting stories. The tale with the most Polish roots says that the dish is named after the Tatars (Mongols) nomadic horsemen who often raided Poland, but in 1410 sided with the Polish at the Battle of Grunwald.

Legend has it that the Tatars would place raw meat under their saddle to tenderize it, and later slice it up to eat raw because they had no time to stop and cook their meat.

ingredients for steak tartare on a platter

The second version has the dish originating in France about 1900. It didn’t really catch on until the 1950s.

Beefsteack à l’Américaine as it was called originally became Beefsteack à la Tartare, for the tartar sauce that was served with the raw beef. Whatever the story, Tatar will bring out strong reactions.

Our usually adventurous gastronome friends, were put off to find out what wasn’t cooking at our house the night we made Tatar. Only one friend, a big fan of anchovies, has had a positive reaction. So choose your dinner guests carefully.

Recipes for Tatar vary of lot, so your might be different than mine and still be authentic and wonderful.

The key ingredients are ground or finely diced beef tenderloin (filet mignon), egg yolk (if you don’t eat raw cookie dough, you may want to find pasteurized eggs), salt, pepper, something pickled (pickles, capers, or both), something onion-y (red onion- better raw, shallots, green onion, leek, chives), maybe mushrooms. It might be served with bread or alongside fried potatoes or salad.

Smacznego!

Lois

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Polish Befszyk Tatarski

Befszyk Tatarski (Steak Tartare)

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 30 mins
  • Yield: serves 4
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Cuisine: Polish
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe

Description

Easily doubled for larger portions or more servings


Ingredients

Scale
  • 8 ounces very fresh, high quality Filet Mignon
  • 1 egg yolk

all of the following are suggestions, season to taste:

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon diced flat leaf parsley
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoon finely diced shallot
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 anchovies
  • 2 tablespoon finely diced dill pickle
  • 2 tablespoon finely diced red onion
  • 2 teaspoons Worcester sauce

Instructions

  1. Place the serving plate in the freezer to chill
  2. Grind of finely dice the beef
  3. Combine all of the ingredients and serve on the chilled platter with toasted bread
  4. Or plate the ingredients and mix table-side

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @PolishHousewife on Instagram and hashtag it #polishhousewife

 

Lois Britton

An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com,  she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.

Share this...
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Reddit
  • Whatsapp

Filed Under: Appetizer, Beef, Polish, Polish Mains & Sides

Previous Post: « Fasolka Po Bretonsku (Polish Breton Beans)
Next Post: Sauerkraut Relish Recipe »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kathy sands

    June 9, 2017 at 12:09 pm

    This is one of the recipes I remember my mom making for my dad. Only it would be patties on rye bread with cucumbers on top.i remember going to the polish butcher and having my mom watch closely while the butcher ground the meat.

    Reply
  2. David

    June 9, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    One of the best things about having an “egg dealer” is that I get really fresh eggs so raw yolks are not a problem! Can’t wait to try this, Lois.

    P.S. – I made your pork schnitzel the other evening and it was amazing.

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      June 10, 2017 at 1:26 pm

      How nice to have an egg dealer!

      Reply
  3. Jonny Blair

    June 12, 2017 at 11:57 am

    Hi! What a coincidence! I also live in Poland, run a travel blog, love Tatar and wrote about it recently. Where in Poland are you based? I am in Warszawa. Safe travels. Jonny

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      June 13, 2017 at 5:50 pm

      Hi, Jonny! We were in Poznań from 2009-2014. We’re back in the States now, but look forward to visiting PL again.

      Reply
  4. Octavia

    June 13, 2017 at 12:49 am

    Yes. It always tastes fantastic. And is so easy to prepare if you have proper meat. We started to include it when celebrating Easter breakfast in South Africa. Octavia.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      June 13, 2017 at 5:50 pm

      Sounds great!

      Reply
  5. David

    July 20, 2021 at 6:23 am

    I love it but I eat it as a sandwich and since it is chopped fine you can use cheaper cuts of mear, I use top round/London broil when on sale. I chop with a sharp knofe, on rye bread with chopped red onion, a drizzle of olive oil and a smear of anchovy paste on the top slice of bread. Of course don’t forget some coarsely ground black pepper and a little sea salt

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      July 23, 2021 at 6:16 pm

      Sounds delicioius, David!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Use the code POLISH15 for a 15% discount!

Welcome – Witam!

Hi, I'm Lois; welcome to Polish Housewife! Here you'll find my culinary and cultural adventures in Poland and in the USA.
Zapraszamy! Click here…

Polish recipes sent to your inbox!

* = required field

Looking for something special?

The Polish Housewife Cookbook – order your autographed copy here!

Footer

  • Privacy Policy
my photos on tastespotting
Living in Poland
my foodgawker gallery
Poland Blogs

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework