Where's the Beef?

My sister and brother-in-law made it back safely from their trip to the Cinque Terre, and enjoyed it very much, as I knew they would. Upon their return, I had a surprise for them.

Tuscany is an agriculture region. Grape vines, of course, are probably its most famous agricultural product, but they also grow hay, corn, olive trees, sunflowers, and many other crops that I don’t always recognize. In addition to crops, the Tuscan ranchers (particularly in the Maramma region) raise beef cattle.

Many Tuscany restaurants, particularly in the Florence area, offer what they call Bistecca Fiorentina. Bill and I had tried it before, and we thought it was delicious. Bistecca Fiorentina are grilled porterhouse steaks that come from chianina beef. Chianina beef are white oxen that are raised in Tuscany. The steaks, which you must have cut by a butcher, are enormous.

Bill and I went to the fancy Coop Supermercado in Poggibonsi yesterday morning and bought two big steaks. The butcher takes the biggest slab of meat you can imagine, determines how thick you want them cut (they are suppose to be about 2 inches thick for bistecca fiorentina), makes a little cut with a knife, and then takes a meat cleaver and proceeds to hack the steaks away from the meat slab. I can’t imagine how many Italian butchers have lost fingers cutting these steaks. I’m thankful that our butcher didn’t lose any digits as he cut our two beautiful steaks.

To make traditional bistecca fiorentina, you get your coals very hot and you place your steaks on the grill for six minutes each side. You take the steaks off the grill when they are still quite rare. It isn’t until they are off the grill that you liberally salt them, and then pour good olive oil over the top. We prepared our steaks this way.

TR opened up a bottle of the good Vino Nobile wine he had purchased the other day in Montepulciano. Wow. What a meal. We all enjoyed it very much.

After dinner and a quick clean-up, we all went back downstairs to the patio where we drank a bit more wine and Bill and TR enjoyed some nice cigars. The night was cool and clear as we watched the sun set and the sky darken.