Does anyone have a recipe for perisa (I think that is how you say it) I had it at the last tailgate and dang was it good! It had raw meat that was cured by lime and had some other stuff in it. At first I didn't know what to think but I'd like to make some. Thanks in advance!

CASTROVILLE PARISA RECIPE
2 lb. lean ground beef sirloin, 2 lb. American cheese, diced, 2 medium sized onions,
diced, salt to taste, course ground pepper to taste, 1 tbsp. lemon juice to cure
Mix well, serve with crackers and enjoy.

There are lots of variations. My 2 cents....keep the beef very cold and hands clean when preparing. Also, dice the onions into very small pieces.

Awesome, Thanks!

I haven't had that since I was a kid, and didn't know the name of it.

I remember it being delicious.

Do you know how long it will stay good if only taken out of the fridge to eat?

I have been to parties where Parisa was set out for several hours and did not hear of anyone getting sick.

I would not take chances like that.... and my family has eaten a lot of Parisa.

Wait until the people are there before you take it out of the fridge, just so they eat it up faster while it is pretty cold.

Make sure to mix it with beer in your belly and it will be safe. (my theory)

haha, will do!

Even with the added lime or lemon juice I don't see that being enough to convince me that it's a safe dish. I have a hard time believing that just 1Tbls of juice would be enough to increase the alkalinity of the said 2 lbs. of ground meat plus other ingredients, thereby resulting in a "cured" product.

I would at least suggest only feeding it to those who are not immunocompromised.

As big a concern E. coli 0157:H7 is in ground beef, it's not worth someone getting sick, IMO. This being said by someone who has a couple years experience with meat processing/food safety/HACCP, and one who has voluntarily ate raw ground beef in the past.

Redneck version of Steak Tartar?

I like my steaks rare, but I can't understand why someone would volunteer to eat raw ground beef. Mythbusters should do an episode on the 'curing' allegedly provided by a dash of lime.

i have family that lives just outside of castroville and have had parisa at almost every family holiday gathering for years. not once has a single family member gotten sick.

i love the stuff. but Allen, you forgot the diced serrano or jalepeno pepper.

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Until their is some scientific proof behind the safety of parisa, I don't think I'd care to eat it. The one and only time I have eaten raw ground beef was on a dare. I didn't get sick either, but very well could have (stupid I know). If you are comfortable with taking the risk go ahead, but be warned that getting sick is not the only consequence of E. coli poisoning. People have become paralyzed, and some have even died from consuming E. coli positive ground beef. Although the stories are sad, it can't help but get mad when family members of an E. coli victim place all the blame on the beef industry and not the individuals that served the undercooked ground beef, or potentially as in a case like parisa, served uncooked ground beef, since proper cooking guarantees 100% the elimination of E. coli.

I'm not saying don't eat it. I'm just telling you why I wouldn't. For those that ever consider eating a dish with any raw/undercooked meat, ground or not ground, consider all the consequences. Just because you have never heard of anyone getting sick doesn't mean it will not happen.

Parisa is sold commercially in Castroville, Devine, Hondo, and other places.

Many of these places DO NOT use any citrus juice in the recipe.

I believe that the onion juice helps keep the dish much safer (than it would be without onions).

People in Medina County eating this stuff for 100 years is not really scientific but pretty substantial "proof". I am not totally sold on the safety, but personally, I will only eat up to 1/4 pound (maybe 15 crackers) at a party. But I have seen my 16 year old son eat much more.

[This message has been edited by Allen76 (edited 1/2/2010 9:25a).]

Dzuiks Meat Market in Castroville has some great Parisa. It is a long time South Texas tradition, we have enjoyed for years. They sell it by the lb this time of year. Excellent!

You should try mettbrotchen from Germany. Ground raw pork on bread topped with onions served with a good alt-bier...it was great!! I would recommend giving it a try if you are ever in Dusseldorf.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/like_the_grand_canyon/3456004337/

[This message has been edited by fat rooster (edited 1/3/2010 10:22a).]

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proper cooking guarantees 100% the elimination of E. coli

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for someone so keen on scientific proof this is a ridiculous statement.

also, since the incidence of intra-muscular parasites is very low the contamination a majority of the time occurs in processing. also, O157:H7 is found in the hindgut, not the muscle and can get into processed meats (such as ground beef) during production.

I enjoy tartare and blue steak occasionally and am really interested in parisa after hearing reviews here. It carries a minimal risk of infection from healthy adults and if from non-grain fed animals it is even safer.

being a health professional and having two patents on pathogen inactivation as well as previous USDA grants I say exercise caution, but this isn't a huge public health risk.

edit: physicians can't spell


[This message has been edited by riley290 (edited 1/3/2010 3:08p).]

I watched my wife eat some parisa Sunday that had been setting out on the table for about 6 hours. My brother and I looked at each other and briefly discussed that we do eat parisa but would never try it after sittng out that long.

My brother is in the food business, and I have a meats specialization on my degree from TAMU.

My wife has recovered and seems to be doing okay now. Just kidding.

I would buy and grind your own meat. Sanitize everything on your grinder, and just be safe and not careless.

I would love to try some. I would just not feed it to the people most at risk.

The real question is who has the best parisa.

Is it Castroville, Devine, Hondo, D'Hanis or elsewhere?

There was a thread on here on the best place to buy it but caannot find it.

Are there any variations to the recipe above?

Or is that the basic one.

That is a basic recipe, but every place makes it slightly different.

Two other ingredients to consider:

garlic powder
serranos or jalapenos

That other thread (a few months back??) had several recipes.

This stuff gives you some great dragon breath.

Serve it with saltine crackers...that's the only option.

Well I ended up making some for New Years Eve. It was great! I might put some jalepenos in it next time. I did squeeze 1 1/2 lemons into the 1 lbs. of meat since it was might first time to make it. After the salt and pepper and onions were addded and everything was thoroughly mixed, definitely a good appetizer for the beer, whiskey, and champagne.

I have enjoyed parisa many, many times growing up. As others have pointed out, I'm not aware of anyone being made sick by it. The reality is that the most likely culprits to make you sick (salmonella and E. coli O157:H7) are not very likely to be present.

Unfortunately, the consequences can be dire, especially for kids, if O157:H7 is present. Most of the data indicate that it is present in somewhere around 0.1% to 0.4% of beef.

NOTHING in the making of parisa does anything to reduce or eliminate salmonella or H7. While the lemon/lime juice will lower the pH and inhibit their growth if added in sufficient quantity, it will not kill them, nor even significantly reduce their numbers.

So, enjoy your parisa, just know that there is some risk, however small. Again, I eat the stuff because it is a risk I'm o.k. with; but would never let my young kids eat it.

Just had Dzuiks parisa Sunday!

My family makes a similiar dish we call "Dutch Lunch" and we are german. The local meat market in Needville even sells it around the holidays. Dice up lean sirlion, lean ham, garlic, onion, salt an pepper, and lemon juice. Run throught grinder twice or more to get right consistency. Press it into a dish or foil pan. Eat on saltine cracker with a little splash of pepper juice! Ive never gotten sick in my 29 years of eating it, nor know anyone that has.

[This message has been edited by texagpilot (edited 1/5/2010 8:36p).]

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The real question is who has the best parisa?

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My vote goes to the Country Mart in D'Hanis. I always pick some up when I get the chance.

God bless Medina County

Bought a pound at Schotts meat market between Helotes and Pipe Creek a couple weeks ago. My first time trying and it was very good. Picked up some last week in D'hanis and was very good too. The D'hanis parish had more fine ground black pepper, Schotts was a little courser ground and not as much pepper. One thing I was curious on though is that the Schotts parish was more red (like fresh grind...made that am) whereas the D'hanis was greyer (maybe more lemon changed the color? Ground day before). Any ideas??

In Del Rio, it's called "Hot Hamburger". I love that stuff. The New Colony Store on the loop to Acuña makes the best stuff.

I agree with SecoKid. Out of all the places you can buy it in Medina County, I think Country Mart's is the best. Maybe it's preference though because I like how spicy they make it. Alvarez's in Hondo makes some good parisa as well.

[This message has been edited by TrueAggie42 (edited 7/9/2014 12:25a).]

Alvarez in Hondo, FTW!!!

[This message has been edited by BustaAgg (edited 7/8/2014 6:51p).]