Steak tartare

So-called because the Tartars or Mongol hordes were said to have ridden across the steppes with pieces of beefsteak under their saddles in order to tenderise them, this is a very reviving dish, and one which is beginning to reappear in good restaurants. Once, when we were filming for ‘Clarissa and the Countryman, Johnny had terrible congestion of the lungs, verging on pleurisy. As he was due to exercise a steeplechaser on screen the next day, I intruded into the kitchens of the Cholmondeley