The Nasty Bits: Venison Heart Tartare Recipe (2024)

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Chichi Wang

The Nasty Bits: Venison Heart Tartare Recipe (1)

Chichi Wang

Chichi Wang wrote a variety of columns for Serious Eats including The Butcher's Cuts, in addition to other stories. Born in Shanghai and raised in New Mexico, Chichi took her degree in philosophy but decided that writing about food would be more fun than writing about Plato.

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Updated June 12, 2022

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The Nasty Bits: Venison Heart Tartare Recipe (2)

Last Tuesday we discussed a few ways of preparing beef heart, a versatile organ that can be slow-cooked, quickly grilled or seared, or even ground up for heart burgers. There was, however, one application that I didn't cover due to an unfortunate shortage of heart in the kitchen. This week, there was more than enough of the organ to serve in what is certainly its most primal form: raw and unadorned, save for a bit of liquid and seasoning.

Tartare is a preparation most commonly applied to beef or fish flesh, but the idea of eating offal in its completely raw state has always appealed to me. Oftentimes I've held a brain, liver, or heart in my hands, inhaled the sweet smell of an organ that's so wonderfully pungent and perfect on its own, and felt compelled to eat it as is.

Tartare is an opportunity to do just that, to really get a feel for the texture and taste of the protein without the application of heat. Feeling inclined to check off another species of animal in my list of offal consumption, I met with chef Sebastiaan Zijp of New York City's Bar Blanc on a sunny afternoon to talk about venison hearts, which he'd just gotten into his kitchen for use in tartare.

My initial impression was that of surprise: venison hearts are only half the size of beef hearts. What the game hearts lack in size, they compensate for in smell. A whiff of the venison hearts called to mind the feeling of something wild and even a bit rank. Gamey, an amorphous term that's applied too casually to any protein that doesn't taste like chicken, pork, or beef, would inadequately describe the slightly sour aroma emanating from the raw hearts.

The venison hearts surprised me again when we tried the tartare of heart preparation on crostini. The taste was exceedingly mild, with just a hint of its mammalian origin. Still, it was the texture that made the heart worth eating raw: tender with much less of a chew than cooked heart, the tiny cubes of the chopped up organ were good enough to eat alone without the crostini accompaniment.

A classic French preparation of tartare would include some acidic elements, like lemon, vinegar, or diced capers paired with mustard, and something with a bit of kick like Worcestershire. On the Asian side of your pantry, try pairing the raw heart with yuzu, ginger, or wasabi for a change from the expected French flavors. The next time you with yourself with a really fresh beef or venison heart, save a few of the choicest chunks to eat raw - a fine appetizer for a second course of seared or grilled hearts.

Venison Heart Tartare

Serious Entertaining: A 'Game of Thrones' Feast Fit for Kings

Recipe Details

The Nasty Bits: Venison Heart Tartare Recipe

Prep20 mins

Total20 mins

Serves4 servings

Ingredients

  • A few chunks impeccably fresh heart, beef or venison, about 4 ounces

  • A squeeze of lemon

  • 1 tablespoon diced capers

  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

  • 1/4 tsp salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Trim the heart for use: remove the tissue and the sinew, as well as the fat around the edges of the heart and inside the separate chambers. Use the majority of the heart for a cooked preparation, if you so desire, and reserve about 4 ounces for the tartare.

  2. Very finely dice the chunks of heart. Add the seasonings, adjusting the flavors to taste. Serve as is, or with rounds of crostini on the side.

This Recipe Appears In

  • Serious Entertaining: A 'Game of Thrones' Feast Fit for Kings
  • No-Cook
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
69Calories
5g Fat
1g Carbs
5g Protein

×

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories69
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g6%
Saturated Fat 2g10%
Cholesterol 19mg6%
Sodium 155mg7%
Total Carbohydrate 1g0%
Dietary Fiber 0g0%
Total Sugars 0g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 1mg5%
Calcium 5mg0%
Iron 1mg4%
Potassium 102mg2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

The Nasty Bits: Venison Heart Tartare Recipe (2024)

FAQs

The Nasty Bits: Venison Heart Tartare Recipe? ›

If you leave it in these large pieces, you can pound them into a cutlet or schnitzel and make jagerschnitzel with it, or make grilled deer heart with peppers and onions. If you cut the big pieces into chunks, you can make Peruvian anticuchos, marinated grilled deer heart on a stick.

What's the best way to eat deer heart? ›

If you leave it in these large pieces, you can pound them into a cutlet or schnitzel and make jagerschnitzel with it, or make grilled deer heart with peppers and onions. If you cut the big pieces into chunks, you can make Peruvian anticuchos, marinated grilled deer heart on a stick.

What does a deer heart taste like? ›

Deer heart is really just another muscle/steak. It can have more of an iron-like taste because of its function in the body.

How healthy is eating deer heart? ›

Not only is heart delicious and straightforward to prepare, but it also contains folate, iron, zinc, selenium, and B vitamins essential for our own heart health. The easiest way to prepare the heart is to cut off the aorta, fat, and hard connective tissue from the top and then slice the heart in half.

How long to soak venison heart? ›

heart with a damp cloth, soak overnight in salted water, and then drain.

Can deer heart be eaten rare? ›

You want them to be medium rare. If you cook them too much they will be rubbery and not nearly as delicious.

What is the tradition of eating raw deer hearts? ›

By ingesting the heart, it is thought that the hunter assimilates the animal's strength, courage, and vitality, forging a spiritual connection with the species and expressing gratitude for the sacrifice made. In some cultures, the ritual serves as a rite of passage or initiation into adulthood.

Who eats deer heart? ›

Any whitetail deer hunting enthusiast or big game meat-eater will likely have a go-to deer heart recipe, but here are a few tips and techniques for cooking this dish for the first time outdoors: Remove any connective tissue.

Why do people eat deer hearts? ›

Deer hearts, as well as the hearts of other animals, are high in iron, zinc, selenium, and vitamins B2, B6, and B12. So, if you're feeling tired and run-down, or you have high blood pressure, eating heart regularly can help improve your health, and it can even boost your energy.

Is deer heart chewy? ›

Heart meat is very lean and tasty with a slight chewy texture. It is one of the more mild flavored of all the organ meats. Venison Heart has around 22grams of protein per 3 ounces of serving. It's also a great source of bioavailable forms of thiamine, folate, selenium, phosphorus, zinc, CoQ10 and several B vitamins.

How to soak venison heart? ›

To do this, simply run cold water over the heart while massaging the meat to help push out a lot of the blood. Then place it in a bowl or container filled with cold, salted water for up to half an hour. Remove the heart and discard all of the water.

What is a good brine for venison? ›

To a medium saucepan, add 1 quart of water, salt, brown sugar, worcestershire sauce, and garlic cloves. Bring to a boil. Boil until the salt and brown sugar dissolve, about 2-3 minutes. Add 4 cups of ice and enough cold water to make 1 quart of liquid to the brining container.

How to prepare a deer heart before cooking? ›

Trim deer heart of valves, fat and check for calcium deposits that look like a bone. Cut heart to uniform thickness as one or two flat steaks. Salt, pepper and a dash of mace with minced fresh rosemary, thyme and garlic. Sear over medium-high heat in olive oil until rare.

Does deer meat need to soak in water? ›

This is one of the worst things to do to any animal carcass after its slaughter. Putting the meat in water allows bacteria (primarily E. coli) to grow and spread over the entire carcass.

Can you cook the heart of a deer? ›

Get a pan really hot with a tablespoon or so of oil. Sear the heart squares quickly on both sides, about 1 minute on each. You want them to be medium rare. If you cook them too much they will be rubbery and not nearly as delicious.

References

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