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{{Short description|Traditional working class dish from Mumbles, United Kingdom}}
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{{Steak}}
'''Carpetbag steak''' or '''carpetbagger steak''' is a traditional working-class dish from [[Mumbles]], a historic oyster-fishing village in [[Swansea]], [[South Wales]], UK.<ref name="powell 2025">{{cite web |last1=Powell MA |first1=Carol |title=The Mumbles Oyster Trade |url=https://www.storyofmumbles.org.uk/stories/articles/customs-traditions/the-mumbles-oyster-trade |website=The Story of Mumbles |access-date=14 November 2025 |date=15 February 2025 |quote=[P]reviously published on the History of Mumbles web site.}}</ref> Over the years it has become a luxury dish, popular in the 1950s and 1960s in [[Australia]]<ref>Carpetbag Steak, Bert Newton, 1960s,  [http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/transcripts/historical_interpretation/NMA_Wessell_20090406.html Food and space: the Australian nation in the British Empire] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330230909/http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/transcripts/historical_interpretation/NMA_Wessell_20090406.html |date=2017-03-30 }}</ref> and [[New Zealand]].<ref>Horopito Carpetbag Steak [http://www.annethorp.co.nz/category/recipes/horopito-carpetbag-steak/ Anne Thorpe] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426061633/http://www.annethorp.co.nz/category/recipes/horopito-carpetbag-steak/ |date=April 26, 2012 }}</ref>

It consists of an end cut of [[steak]], such as [[Scotch fillet]] or eye fillet. A pocket is cut in the meat via a small entry cut and then expanded internally, into which [[oysters]] are stuffed, and the opening closed with toothpicks or thread. As the dish is grilled, the flavour of the fresh oysters permeates the steak and blends with the juice of the tender meat.

The combination of beef and oysters is traditional and formed part of the everyday diet of oyster fisherman in [[Swansea]] in the mid-1800s.<ref name="powell 2025"/> The earliest specific reference in the [[United States]] was a newspaper in 1891, which may indicate a connection with [[carpetbaggers]] or to gluttony. The earliest specific Australian reference is a printed recipe from between 1899 and 1907.<ref>''Carpet Bag a la Colchester'', Jean Rutledge, Goulburn Cookery Book, various editions</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmeats.html#carpetbagsteak |title=Carpetbag steak |work=[[The Food Timeline]] |first=Lynne |last=Olver |author-link=Lynne Olver}}</ref> Another recipe from 1909 includes cayenne pepper as an ingredient, which may indicate an American origin.<ref>The Truth about Carpetbag Steak [http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2011/11/truth-about-carpetbag-steak.html The Old Foodie]</ref>  The more recent Australian versions typically use [[Worcestershire sauce]], as does the local version of [[oysters Kilpatrick]].

It is sometimes served standing up like a miniature mountain. A strip of [[bacon]] may be wrapped around the serving and surrounded by peeled and browned baby [[potato]] halves. In one style, the steak is marinated in a sauce of thyme, pepper, tarragon, lemon, sugar and tamarind and served with a glass of dessert wine.

==See also==
{{portal|Food}}
* [[List of steak dishes]]

==References==
{{cookbook}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Welsh Cuisine}}

[[Category:Beef dishes]]
[[Category:Australian cuisine]]
[[Category:Oyster dishes]]


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