QUICK BITE: Steak Tartare Snack

While sailing on the Viking Sea, I needed a quick snack before our excursion in Lanse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland.  On Viking Ocean cruise line, they have many quick ready to go snacks in the deli case at the Atrium bar.  The variety of snacks varies.  They always have sweet treats such as cookies or other pastries.  The savory ones vary from egg sandwiches to different types of cheese to shrimp salad.  They also had a steak tartare one which I just had to try as I am a fan of that.    Traditional steak tartare is hand chopped with some light seasoning and served on a plate.  This one was unusual.  From first look, it seems like the ground beef you would find in a package at your local supermarket.  But upon receipt of this dish, I performed a meat autopsy.  From what I can gather, the chefs put together the tartare, spread it across a sheet pan in a thin layer and then freeze that pan.  Once frozen, the sheet it cut into squares about an inch larger that a piece of bread on each side.  Then while stiil frozen, the tartate is wrapped around a piece of toast to create the beef bundle.  Quite an interesting preparation, it is the sides and seasonings that make it.  Im this case, they had a deliciously creamy salr-cured egg yolk, sweet onion, tomatoes and finely chopped pickles.   The meat itself was not seasoned so it let you add as much or as little of each side as you wanted.   And the toast added a necessary crunch.  While no your standard prepararation, I really enjoyed the creativity.