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Raw Dog
See under Sandwiches That Satisfy The Raw Dog used to be called a Cannibal Sandwich, and you'll find a streamlined model in Nude Ranch or Sally Rand Special, under Squaw Feeds Paleface. Just ask the butcher to chop sirloin fine, grind up a tenderloin or a bit of T-bone, spread it raw on crackers and season well. Then eat as is, or mix an egg in and maybe some chopped onions or nuts.
This is raw ground beef, seasoned and optionally bound with a raw egg, served on crackers. It cannot be brought within reach of current food-safety practice by adjusting the method, because the method is that nothing is cooked.
- Nothing reaches a safe temperatureThere is no heat step anywhere in the recipe. Ground beef is considered safe at 160F throughout; this dish never exceeds room temperature, and the seasoning does nothing to bacteria.
- Grinding is the specific problemPathogens on beef live on the cut surface. Grinding distributes that surface throughout the meat, so the interior of a patty or spread is no cleaner than the outside of the original roast. A whole steak seared briefly is a different risk profile from anything minced.
- E. coli O157:H7This organism was not identified as a foodborne hazard until 1982, decades after books like this were written. It is associated with ground beef, needs a very small dose to cause illness, and can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome and kidney failure in children and older adults.
- Asking the butcher does not fix it"Just ask the butcher to chop sirloin fine" reads as the period's mark of quality, and it is a real one for flavour and fat content. It is not a microbiological guarantee: neither freshness nor grade guarantees the absence of contamination.
- The raw eggMixing in an uncooked egg adds a Salmonella enteritidis risk on top of the beef. Pasteurised shell eggs exist, but they do not address the meat, which is the larger hazard here.
- If you want the flavourSteak tartare as served in restaurants relies on sourcing, dedicated equipment, temperature control and a willingness to accept residual risk. Follow a current, professionally sourced recipe rather than this one, and understand that public-health guidance in the US advises against raw ground beef for anyone at all.