Carpaccio
Venetian raw beef with a light mayonnaise sauce
Paper-thin raw beef is served cold with a light mayonnaise-based sauce in the Venetian preparation associated with Harry’s Bar.
Thin raw beef & a pale sauceFine slices of raw beef,
a Venetian original.
Carpaccio is thinly sliced raw beef, closely associated with Giuseppe Cipriani and Harry’s Bar in Venice. The original preparation uses a pale mayonnaise-based sauce with Worcestershire, lemon and milk. Its name refers to the Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio and the red tones of his work.
Many later versions use olive oil, lemon, arugula and cheese instead. The recipe below follows the mayonnaise-sauce approach with purchased mayonnaise made from pasteurized eggs. Raw beef carries a foodborne-illness risk even when carefully sourced and chilled. This is an uncooked dish, and neither lemon dressing nor brief freezing makes the meat safe to eat raw.
Explore by food: Meat
Let’s make carpaccio with a Cipriani-style sauce.
Four small starters. This recipe contains raw beef and is unsuitable for pregnant people, children under five, adults 65 or older, and people with weakened immune systems. Choose a cooked dish for those diners.
Four small starters, 75 g raw beef per person. Read the raw-meat note before preparing.
What you’ll need
- 300 gtrimmed whole-muscle beef tenderloin, not mechanically tenderized or injected
- 60 gcommercial mayonnaise made with pasteurized eggs
- 10 mlpasteurized milk
- 1 tspWorcestershire sauce
- 1 tsplemon juice
- to tastefine salt and white pepper
Raw beef can contain harmful bacteria or parasites. Careful sourcing, refrigeration, lemon juice and brief freezing do not eliminate that risk. USDA recommends cooking intact beef to 63°C/145°F with a three-minute rest; that produces a cooked dish rather than raw carpaccio. This recipe uses commercial pasteurized-egg mayonnaise, not homemade raw-egg mayonnaise. Worcestershire commonly contains anchovy.
How to make it
- 01
Source and keep cold
Tell a reputable butcher the beef will be served raw and ask for an intact, untenderized tenderloin piece trimmed of surface fat and silverskin. This selection does not remove the risk of raw meat. Transport cold, refrigerate at 4°C/40°F or below and prepare promptly within the supplier’s use-by instructions. Do not rinse the meat.
- 02
Firm for slicing
On a clean board, wrap the cold beef tightly and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes until firmer but not frozen solid. Chill four plates in the refrigerator. Freezer firming is only a slicing aid, not a treatment that makes raw beef safe.
- 03
Mix the sauce
Using utensils kept separate from the beef, whisk mayonnaise, milk, Worcestershire and lemon juice into a thin sauce. Season lightly with salt and white pepper. Cover and refrigerate until plating.
- 04
Slice very thinly
Wash hands and use a clean sharp knife and board dedicated to the meat. Unwrap and slice across the grain as thinly as possible, about 1 mm. Flatten small portions gently between sheets of food-safe wrap if necessary; keep the remaining beef refrigerated as you work.
- 05
Dress and serve immediately
Arrange beef on the chilled plates in one layer, drizzle with the cold sauce and serve immediately. Do not leave assembled plates standing at room temperature. Wash hands and clean and sanitize the knife, board and work surface after handling the raw beef.
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