Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Bistecca alla Fiorentina

Whilst back in Sydney recently, with access to good quality and affordable beef, I decided to make bistecca alla fiorentina.

Anyone who is familiar with Italian cuisine will know that bistecca alla fiorentina is a simple but wonderful way of preparing steak. Not just any steak but specifically a T-bone that is grilled over a charcoal fire and seasoned with salt and pepper. Some traditionalists believe that the beef should come from Chianina cattle; some people allow the Maremmana breed of cattle.

What makes this different is that the T-bone is thickly cut and often shared between two or more. It is also served very rare.

Any local butcher should be able to cut you T-bone steaks to your preference. I asked mine to cut me slices that were “three fingers thick”. Hold your index middle and ring fingers together to achieve the thickness. Each steak ended up being about 1kg each. So impressed was the butcher that is said “now that’s a steak!” I took three slices.


The Rolex GMT-IIc looks tiny compared to these monsters.