There are many Lebanese restaurants across the U.S. which sell a raw lamb dish called Kibbeh. Even in Ohio (where I currently live) restaurants serve it. Apparently the health dept. doesn't give them grief for doing this, although many people in the U.S. are afraid of eating raw or rare meat. At an X-Mas party at a popular Lebanese restaurant, hosted by my husband's boss (who is Lebanese), my husband and I were happy to finally try kibbeh, a raw lamb dish. (I know it has a little bit of bulgar wheat in it, but not much and we so rarely eat grain!). It was interesting to see how people reacted to seeing the raw meat appetizer plates. Our enthusiasm about seeing several plates of raw lamb on the table and the gusto with which we ate it actually inspired a handful of people who had never eaten raw meat--and were afraid to--to try it. Some were very skeptical and thought they wouldn't like it, but actually they LOVED it. A few of them really got into it. In fact, a few of them said they'd like to go back and just order a plate of the raw meat!!! They were hooked. No one got sick! If people frequently got sick from Kibbeh, you can bet it would not be on the menus in all these Middel Eastern restaurants! It was fun to watch people get over the initial shock, curiously try raw meat, then really, really, really like it!! :)) Some of them had seen Don bring steak tartare in his lunch or ceviche with salad and had asked him what he was eating before (nothing new, his lunches usually look great to them). They were really open to the idea of eating raw meat after tasting it at the party. I wonder how many restaurants in the US serve steak tartare, Ceviche, Kibbeh, Carpaccio, and other raw meat dishes. I recall seeing Ceviche on the menu in a classy seafood cafe in Seattle, WA about 10 years ago! Some may think it is risky, but the practice may be more widespread than many realize. I also had a cooking student who told me about eating pheasant and also wild goose in a posh restaurant in Florida, cooked rare! Neither she nor her hubby got sick. They were just curious because of injunctions against eating rare poultry. Rachel (who eats some raw meats and some cooked meats)