If one must eat meat raw it is surely best done in this way, for the sauce gives the impression of being hot enough to cook the meat right on the tongue.

– Laurens Van Der Post (as quoted in Ethiopia, Cultures of the World by Steven Gish, Winnie Thai, and Zawiah Latif)

Van Der Post is talking about an Ethiopian raw beef dish called kitfo (kit-foh).  The sauce is made almost entirely of berberé – the crazy, smoke alarm hot spice blend we made recently – as well as lemon juice and a buttery-good mixture of sautéed peppers, onions, ginger, garlic, and cardamom. And, of course, raw beef.

Now, for the moment of truth… would you eat it? Why or why not?

Photo: Diádoco