Founder's Steak Tartare Recipe

A proper hands-on plate: hand-cut Welsh fillet, a shatteringly crisp tangle of matchstick fries, and a jammy little pile of pickled golden beetroot to cut through it all. This is the kind of thing you make when you want to prove a point about where your meat comes from.

Ingredients

Serves 2 as as starter

For the tartare

• 200g fresh fillet steak (Douglas Willis's Welsh fillet is the move here - award-winning butchery for a reason)
• 1 banana shallot, very finely diced
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
• A drizzle of good olive oil, to bind

For the matchstick fries

• 2-3 large potatoes, peeled
• Neutral oil for frying (vegetable or sunflower)
• Fine sea salt

For the pickled golden beetroot

• 2-3 golden beetroot, peeled and cut into small cubed
• 200ml white wine vinegar
• 200ml water
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt

To finish

• A generous handful of fresh chives, finely chopped

Method

1. Freeze the fillet briefly. Wrap the fillet and pop it in the freezer for 30 minutes before you start. It firms up just enough to let you cut clean, uniform little cubes instead of squashing the steak around on the board - this is the single biggest thing that separates a good tartare from a slightly sad one.

2. Make the pickling liquid (do this in advance). Bring the white wine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a gentle simmer in a small pan, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Pour it hot over your sliced golden beetroot in a jar or bowl, then leave to cool and pickle in the fridge - even 60 minutes gives you a vivid, tangy bite, though it only gets better if you can leave it longer.

3. Cut the fries. Run your potatoes through the mandolin into fine matchsticks. Rinse them in cold water to wash off excess starch (this is what gets you the crispness), then pat completely dry (very important).

4. Fry until crisp. Heat your oil to around 180°C and fry the matchsticks in batches until deeply golden and properly crisp - don't crowd the pan. Drain on kitchen paper and season immediately with fine sea salt while they're still hot.

5. Cut the fillet. Take the steak from the freezer and, using a sharp knife, cut it into small, even cubes - this is where those 30 minutes in the freezer pay off. Keep it cold until you're ready to dress it.

6. Dress the tartare. In a bowl, combine the diced fillet with the finely diced shallot, drained pickled beetroot and Dijon mustard. Season with salt and pepper (not too much, let the beef do the talking), add a drizzle of olive oil to bind everything together, and mix gently - you want it coated, not mashed.

7. Plate it up. Pack the tartare into a ring mould (or just arrange on the plate as I did for a more rustic feel) in the centre of the plate. Place a pile of your deliciously crispy and salty matchstick fries on top and finish with a generous shower of chopped chives over the top.

Serving note

Eat immediately while the fries are still hot and shattering - the contrast between warm, crisp potato and cold, silky beef is the whole point of the dish.