A: On today’s show we have Chef Patrick Morris of Australia, who has created a number of great recipes. Hello, Patrick. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 
Patrick: Hi, everyone. My name’s Patrick Morris. I’m chef de cuisine at Hemisphere restaurant, Sheraton Hanoi. I’m very happy to be on the program today. 
A: Hey Patrick, I’m quite impressed with the “Beef Tartare” on your menu. Could you tell us something about it?
Patrick: Well, it’s a raw beef dish. It is beef mixed with capers and gherkins, and things like that. 
A: So, you mean it’s totally raw? 
Patrick: Yes, it’s raw, totally raw, but very tasty. You can feel the juicy of the beef and then the salty and sour from the gherkins, the capers, and the lemon juice. It’s really nice. 

If you do it properly and everything is done correctly,  "Beef tartare" is good for health as it’s not fat and nothing that makes you put on weight (Source: evaair.org.vn)

A: As it’s raw, you should be very careful when choosing the ingredients, right?

Patrick: Yes, you need to be careful. I use Australian beef tenderloin here, and I have a special chopping board that I only use for beef tartar, which is the only dish that goes with that chopping board. Everything is cut and served straight away. Everything is done within 2 minutes. 
A: So, how do you prepare the ingredients, for example, for 4 portions?
Patrick: The ingredients for 4 portions. You use 400gr of Australian tenderloin. It’s nice and lean, not too much fat. You don’t want high-fat content beef because it’s not cooked. When you cook the beef with a lot of fat, the fat will melt out and it would be tender. But when you eat it raw, you gonna eat raw fat. It’s not something quite nice. You want something quite lean. 
A: How about other ingredients? 
Patrick: Ah. 25gr of capers and 25gr of gherkins, 25gr of red onion, and 5g of flat leaf parsley. You can also use the curly leaf parsley, it’s up to you. I prefer the flat one because its texture is better for me. Then, 2 lemons, 4 quail eggs, about 10ml of olive oil, 40gr of back caviar, salt and pepper to taste. It depends on whether you like. 
A: You said gherkins. Isn’t that a kind of baby cucumber?
Patrick: Yes. It’s baby cucumber in vinegar. It’s similar to the capers, just different texture. The capers are small berries, and they’re soaked in vinegar as well. Because you know, the beef is raw, so you will use the acidity to kill any bacteria. That’s why you use the lemon as well. Any bacteria will be killed by the vinegar in the gherkins, and capers and the lemon. 
A: So, what about the cooking method? 
Patrick: So what you gonna do is you get all the capers, gherkins, and red onion, and parsley, you finally chop it and put it in a bowl. Then you will clean the chopping board, make sure that it’s very clean, and a clean knife; and you put your meat on the board, and chop the meat by hand until the beef is minced. Then you mix the fresh beef to the onion and capers mixture. Make sure that you put the gloves on and then mix it together. And then you put it in a ring mould and press it down and top with a spoon of black caviar. 
A: Why don’t you use a machine to mince the beef?
Patrick:  Well, because using hands is safer. You know. Mince machine is ok when you want to cook the beef. But in this dish, it’s better to cut by hand, and you will get a better texture. Yeah. You can control the texture, chunky or medium. And it looks better for the guest if they see you chop the beef by hands.

When done right, the dish is cold and salty and gamey and has a perfectly tender texture that not even the toughest guest can say no to. (Source: dentistvschef.wordpress.com)

A: Do you have any special tips to improve the flavor of the dish?

Patrick: Just make sure your beef is fresh and chilled, everything is clean, and make sure that you put enough acidity in there. Yeah. And you should be fine and the taste would be good. 
A: Do you think this dish is good for health? I’m a little bit concerned because it’s raw.
Patrick: Yeah. If you do it properly and everything is done correctly, it’s good for health as it’s not fat and nothing that make you put on weight. High protein, but very low fat. 
A: In the hands of a chef, Beef tartare becomes a truly beautiful thing. When done right, it is cold and salty and gamey and has a perfectly tender texture that not even the toughest guest can say no to. Thank you so much, Patrick, for introducing to us this juicy, fresh dish. 
Patrick: Thank you for having me.
A: That was Chef Patrick Morris, from the Hemisphere restaurant, Sheraton Hanoi, with the recipe for his special “Beef Tartare”. Be sure to join us next week for more cooking tips and recipes. Until then, good bye.