I don't think I could do that - I'm not much of a cook, so on one hand it would be an easy way to get out of cooking - just eat the food raw - actually I do that with vegetables. Don't think I could do it with meat though, I would be afraid of health issues with eating uncooked meat.

By the way - I followed the cost of war link on your site and put it up on my blog too!

Trisha
http://www.ideasforwomen.com/

The 'health risk' angle is something you just have to suck up, I guess. But unless you always eat steak well-done you're already taking that risk (and I always cook mine medium-rare or less). Of course, the raw egg is a risk as well. But I've also made mayonnaisse from scratch, including raw eggs, so I figured I'd already taken that leap as well.

...at that point, I figured the biggest new risk I was taking was the chance I just wouldn't like it, and I've never let that stop me before.

I don't know that I'd order it in a restaurant though. In my own kitchen I know exactly how clean everything is (or isn't). In a commercial kitchen there's the risk of cross-contamination from their cutting board or hands (which isn't a risk with a steak that's seared on the outside).

I do always eat my steak well done! It does help when you can control everything about how it is prepared though - you don't know what they might do to your food - intentional or not - in a restaurant!

Well, if it makes you feel any safer, the only real risk with beef is surface cross-contamination. There won't be any nastiness hiding inside the actual meat tissue (unlike pork and poultry). Commercially ground meat can have all sorts of god-knows-what mixed in, so hamburgers should definitely be cooked all the way through. But as I understand it, the only 'danger zone' with a steak is on the outer surface. So as long as the outside of the meat is seared, it should be safe.

Steak is much better cooked medium-rare! ;-)

Steak tartare is one of the best dishes in the world. Cooking has become far too americanised and we need to learn more lessons from the europeans. There is no risk involved as you are using the best cut of meat possible and marinading the meat. Marinading, like cold-smoking and curing, retards the rate at which bacteria can grow, so its not as if youre just eating "raw" meat.
As for cooking steaks, anything above rare is overcooked and a waste of good meat. Blue is the best way to enjoy a steak.

Personally, I quite like medium-rare, because I really like seared/slightly charred meat too (which apparently contains carcinogens ... so it goes), and it's not often you'll see a steak cooked at high enough heat to properly char the outside and still leave it really rare.

And personally, I usually can't bear to leave my tartare sitting long enough to really marinade (at least not long enough to confer any real safety benefits). haha. ;-)

I think a lot of "risk" with common food contaminants is also very much up to what you're used to. It was pointed out to me the other night that pretty much everyone who regularly drinks untreated water (from a private well or other "non-municipal" source) here in Alaska probably has some level of Giardia in their system ... and hence generally won't get sick from Giardia exposure.