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Hey Steel Shank!


Judge Roybeanbag

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Greetings from Castroville.
Tip o the cap to ya BV and BT. As a 3rd generation and lifelong Texan, I pride myself on knowledge of the state. I did not know about parisa until now.

Here's a good article on the subject I found for those who don't know about it.

https://www.expressnews.com/food/recipes-cooking/article/In-praise-of-parisa-the-reknowned-steak-tartare-12735244.php
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Parisa on a saltine is heavenly.  My wife (yankee) wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole so I've never just made myself a batch, but I might have to soon.  Anyone make their own and, if so, are you using high end cuts of beef ground (for food safety reasons)?

Following....because parisa on a saltine and a coldbeer is proof of God’s existence.
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11 hours ago, Whatever said:

Tip o the cap to ya BV and BT. As a 3rd generation and lifelong Texan, I pride myself on knowledge of the state. I did not know about parisa until now.

Here's a good article on the subject I found for those who don't know about it.

https://www.expressnews.com/food/recipes-cooking/article/In-praise-of-parisa-the-reknowned-steak-tartare-12735244.php

this was a new one to me also.  it sounds tasty, and it looks .... not good.  

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On 2/10/2019 at 8:15 AM, spystud13 said:

^ Subscriber only. 

Spoiler

In praise of parisa, the renowned steak tartare of Medina County

 
Paul Stephen March 7, 2018 Updated: March 8, 2018 9:23 a.m.
 
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1of15Parisa platter with saltine crackers at The Country Mart in D'Hanis.Photo: Paul Stephen / San Antonio Express-News
 

 

 

MEDINA COUNTY — Linda Finger doesn’t mince words. Only meat.

“If you’re in Medina County, you’re a parisa fan. Period.” Finger owns The Country Mart in D’Hanis, one of several Medina County meat markets that specializes in parisa.

The dish, at its most basic, is composed of ground or finely chopped raw beef, American cheese, onion, salt and black pepper. Many butchers add spice in the form of jalapeño, cayenne or serrano chiles and lemon juice, which has a cevichelike curative effect on the raw meat. If you’re not interested in drawing funny looks, you eat it on saltine crackers and wash it down with cold beer.

 

“For most people out here, it’s an at least once a week grab-your-parisa-and-go-watch-a-ballgame kind of thing,” Finger said. “If you’re having a social event, you’re having parisa.”

Finger and many others Medina County residents attribute parisa’s origin to Alsatian immigrants who settled the area under empresario Henri Castro in the mid-1800s. Each town has a slight variation on the dish, as documented in the 1977 cookbook “Old Favorite Receipts” published by the Castro Colonies Heritage Association.

Finger said parisa has been a staple at her shop for several generations, possibly since it opened in 1908, but a direct link to the Old World is a bit harder to establish.

Parisa is often compared to steak tartare, a raw beef preparation with capers, onion and other seasonings French restaurants popularized in the early 20th century — well after Medina County was settled. To further complicate things, at the time, the French called the dish “steack à l'Americaine,” or “American steak.”

 

It also closely resembles “mett,” a German dish of raw ground pork seasoned with salt, pepper and onion typically eaten on bread. Unabashed raw meat enthusiasts, German settlers in the Dakotas and other Midwest states are credited with a dish commonly called “tiger meat,” which is virtually identical to “mett” and a close cousin to parisa, except it’s made with beef instead of pork.

Whether the roots are French or German, there’s no denying parisa is puro Tejas with the frequent addition of New World chiles.

“That’s what happened when the Mexicans got a hold of it,” joked Bobby Alvarez. The recipe his family makes at Alvarez Food Mart in Hondo recently won top honors at the first ever Parisa Pachanga, a cook-off hosted by the Hondo Chamber of Commerce in August as part of the city’s annual Hunt Hondo event. Attendees had the opportunity to purchase commemorative T-shirts emblazoned with slogans such as “If You Don’t Like Parisa, We Can’t Be Friends” and “Parisa: The Original Chips & Salsa.”

While it’s still an intensely regional dish, parisa’s profile has grown in recent years.

 

San Antonio chef Jason Dady serves an interpretation at Range, his River Walk chophouse that opened in September. Jess Pryles, an Austin-based author and founder of the Hardcore Carnivore line of cooking products, includes a version in her cookbook “Hardcore Carnivore: Cook Meat Like You Mean It,” which published in February.

They both take liberties you’d never see in an old-school Medina County meat market with their preparations. Dady dresses his up with microgreens and dollops of Kewpie mayonnaise, where Pryles adds garlic powder and paprika.

The dish has evolved in Medina County hands, as well. Rachel and Tyler Luce opened Silver Creek Meat & Gear in Hondo last year. Not having a family recipe to work from, they cobbled together one of their own.

“We found some paper clippings with parisa recipes from way back in the day,” Rachel Luce explained. “Basically, we took those, mashed them up and changed them until we found a parisa we liked.”

 

They settled on one version that rang true to tradition, but also unleashed a new-wave parisa recipe given a burst of fire from cheese spiked with bhut jolokia, aka the notoriously hot ghost pepper.

Increased tourism to Castroville and a broader interest in regional cuisine has prompted the Castro Colonies Heritage Association to print another run of “Old Favorite Receipts.” Marvin Dziuk, co-owner of Dziuk’s Meat Market in Castroville, said demand recently hit a record level with about 280 pounds ground for New Year celebrations alone.

“We used to just have it on weekends, but there’s been such a demand over the last few years that we try to have a limited amount on hand every day,” Dziuk said. “The community has grown, and the product has become more popular. They’re coming form everywhere to get it. People want it shipped all over the country.”

Fortunately for the health of Medina County expats, none of the area butchers will send raw meat off in the mail, and this is a good time to say that the USDA advises against consuming raw or undercooked ground beef, especially for the very young. very old or those with weakened immune systems.

 

But for those who can handle it, we’ve included a classic parisa recipe and a few other raw beef dishes popular around the globe.

Recipe: Parisa (Medina County steak tartare)

Recipe: Yukhoe (Korean steak tartare)

Recipe: Kitfo (Ethiopian steak tartare)

 

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