Italian · Venice, Veneto

Carpaccio di Manzo alla Cipriani con Salsa Maionese

Invented by Giuseppe Cipriani at Harry's Bar in Venice in 1950, named for the Venetian Renaissance painter whose vivid reds and whites were being exhibited at the time: paper-thin slices of raw beef tenderloin (frozen briefly for easier slicing) dressed with a thin maionese whisked with Worcestershire sauce, lemon, and milk. The name 'carpaccio' became the generic term for any thinly-sliced or shaved raw ingredient. The original Cipriani version is a restaurant preparation — precisely calibrated, not the overly dressed modern version.

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ServesFour portions

Sourced0of 5 in BC

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The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

600 g

beef tenderloin

trimmed of all silver skin and fat, completely fresh (same day)

Your own market

For the Cipriani sauce

120 ml

mayonnaise

thin, freshly whisked

Your own market

1 tsp

Worcestershire sauce

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

1 tsp

lemon juice

freshly squeezed

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

30 ml

whole milk

to thin the sauce to the consistency of single cream

Your own market

The Method

Trim the tenderloin of all silver skin and fat. Wrap tightly in cling film, shape into an even cylinder, and place in the freezer for 2 hours — firm but not rock-hard when pressed through the wrapping.

Place serving plates in the refrigerator while the beef freezes. They must be cold when the beef arrives on them.

Whisk together the mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice. Add milk a little at a time, whisking continuously, until the sauce flows like single cream — it must drizzle freely from a spoon, not sit or mound. This is where the dish lives or dies: a sauce too thick will mask the beef entirely; too thin and it will puddle. Refrigerate until needed; the sauce keeps up to 3 days.

Remove the beef from the freezer. Using a meat slicer or a very sharp, long-bladed knife, cut paper-thin slices of 1–1.5 mm. Work quickly; the beef should still be firm when sliced.

Lay the slices on the cold plates without overlapping — each slice separated from the next. The beef should be translucent and crimson-pink against the plate.

Apply the Cipriani sauce in a fine drizzle over the beef, using a squeeze bottle or the tip of a spoon. The sauce dresses the beef; it does not cover it. Serve immediately.

III

Quality Hierarchy

Reserve — Dry-aged beef tenderloin, certified-origin (Chianina or equivalent), butchered and delivered the same morning; sauce made from hand-whisked, yolk-rich mayonnaise.

Estate — Grass-fed tenderloin from a named farm, purchased the same day; sauce prepared fresh to order.

Market — Prime-grade tenderloin from a reputable butcher, same-day purchase; sauce prepared fresh and refrigerated no more than 24 hours.

House — Best available tenderloin, same-day, fully trimmed; sauce made ahead within the 3-day maximum. Cold plates remain non-negotiable at every rung.

Sensory Tests

◇Touch. The frozen tenderloin yields very slightly under firm pressure through the cling film — firm but not rock-hard; it will slice cleanly without shattering.

◇Sight. Each slice, held to light, is translucent and crimson-pink, 1–1.5 mm — no opacity, no ragged edges.

◇Sight. The Cipriani sauce falls from a spoon in a thin, unbroken stream; it does not ribbon or mound.

◇Touch. The serving plate is cold to the back of the hand before the beef is laid on it.

◇Where it lives or dies. The sauce must flow like single cream — thick enough to cling to the beef in a fine drizzle, thin enough never to mask it.

V · Cross-Cuisine Parallels

French steak tartare — raw beef as a refined restaurant preparation; the French version minces the beef rather than slicing it. Japanese wagyu tataki — very thinly sliced raw beef with a dressing, often ponzu, the Japanese equivalent of carpaccio. Peruvian lomo saltado tiradito — thinly sliced raw beef dressed with acid and served immediately, the ceviche technique applied to beef.

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What to Pour

A lean, high-acid white — Venetian Soave Classico or a light Pinot Grigio delle Venezie — whose minerality and citrus register do not compete with the delicate raw beef and thin Cipriani sauce. A dry Franciacorta or brut Prosecco Superiore serves equally well, the bubbles cutting the richness of the mayonnaise.

The whole pairing

VII · Origin & Lineage

Invented by Giuseppe Cipriani at Harry's Bar, Venice, in 1950, and named for the Venetian Renaissance painter Vittore Carpaccio, whose vivid reds and whites were being exhibited in the city at the time. The dish was a restaurant preparation from its inception — precisely calibrated. The name subsequently became the generic term for any thinly sliced or shaved raw ingredient. Source: Harry's Bar — Arrigo Cipriani.

Pillar VII

Origin and lineage are part of membership.

Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.

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