Last night was a celebratory evening here at casa Van Hoven, and so I ordered take-out from a nearby fancy-schmancy restaurant. I wanted steak, but I wanted something different. I was ready to venture into a new brand of beef, so to speak.

In all my years, I had heard about an interesting dish named Steak Tartare. You've probably all seen or heard of it, and know that it's served raw. But like a bad game of telephone, I had always heard that it's served rare.

So when it arrived, I was naturally curious and really, really skeptical about whether or not it was safe to eat. Bear in mind, my expectation was a well seasoned, perfectly seared 16 oz. steak.

Instead, I got a hunk of meat shaped like a big slice of pineapple and filled with capers and a raw egg. Could there be anything less appetizing? Find out after the jump.

I hopped on Google and learned, courtesy of Wikipedia, that steak tartare, "is a meat dish made from finely chopped or ground raw beef or horse meat."

Horse meat? Are you kidding me? Well it's illegal to sell or serve horse meat in the US, so I can rest assured that Mr. Ed isn't making his way through my digestive tract. Even after learning that it was supposed to be raw, I threw the meat on the stove and cooked it. The egg fried up nicely, and the meat actually tasted pretty good. I couldn't have eaten it raw...