Crudo v Carpaccio

[gfron1]

What's the difference? I recently had a meal that served a lobster carpaccio and also a tuna crudo. Both were thin pieces of raw dressed flesh on a plate. Could the lobster have been called a crudo also?

[LoneSavant]

What's the difference?  I recently had a meal that served a lobster carpaccio and also a tuna crudo.  Both were thin pieces of raw dressed flesh on a plate.  Could the lobster have been called a crudo also?

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In Italian, 'crudo' means "raw," and 'carpaccio' means "skin." In cooking, then, a "crudo" is anything uncooked- generally it's cubed or minced (think tartare), but it can really be prepared almost any way. "Carpaccio" then, refers to the thin "skin-thick" slices of basically anything- tuna, octopus, beef, melon, etc. Carpaccio is often raw (as the flavor is more delicate- carpaccio of roast beef would just be lunchmeat...), but linguistically speaking, it's carpaccio if its thin, crudo if it's raw, and it can be both at the same time!

[gfron1]

thanks for the info.

[Prawncrackers]

I read of a different explanation of Carpaccio by the food critic Giles Coren of The Times in his review yesterday - fifth paragraph in.

[ambra]

Hmmm, I've never hear the skin version either. Just the Cipriani version- even on Foodreference.com. Also, AFAIK, pelle is the word for skin. Or buccia if we're not talking out about people or animals.

I love Lobster Carpaccio. It's been a long time since I've seen it on a menu!! A restaurant I used to work at took it off the menu because it was just too expensive to make and charge a decent price. Best "salad" I ever had though. (Salad because it came topped with arugula, corn, hearts of palm and a lemon vinaigrette.)

[begpie]

carpaccio is thinly sliced,while crudo when talking about fish isnt necessarily thinly sliced.

Edited June 14, 2009 by begpie (log)