carpaccio

Carpaccio is a dish made of thinly sliced raw beef or tuna, usually served as an appetizer. The name comes from the painter Vittore Carpaccio, who favored red colors reminiscent of raw beef. The dish is said to be an invention of Harry's Bar in Venice, created when a famous actress of the day, supposedly in 1950, advised Giuseppe Cipriani that her doctor had recommended she eat only raw meat. Typically the thin slices are served with a dressing of olive oil and lemon juice plus seasoning, often with green salad leaves such as arugula or radicchio and thinly sliced Parmesan cheese.

Today carpaccio is used variably and often refers to any very thinly sliced presentation of foods, which can range as widely as apple, kangaroo, tomatoes, langoustine, bresaola and trout, and a great many more. The amount of cooking varies from none at all to searing, rare cooking, and fully cooked.

The classic carpaccio is of beef—various joints may be used, but typically the most tender and expensive cuts from the lesser-used muscles are favoured. Due to the difficulty inherent in slicing beef thinly, many chefs or home cooks firm up the meat in a freezer for a short time. This, coupled with a very sharp knife or a meat slicer, allows very thin slicing of the beef.