The Chianina (pronounced kee-a-nee-na) may well be one of the oldest breeds of cattle in existence. They were praised by the Georgic poets, Columella and Vergil, and were the models for Roman sculptures.
The breed originated primarily in the west central part of Italy and was found in a wide variety of environmental conditions. Because of this, the cattle vary in size and type from region to
region. The largest representatives of the breed, from the plains of Arezzo and Siena, have supplied most of the foundation stock that has been used in the United States and Canada. The name comes from the Chiana Valley in the province of Tuscany in Central Italy.
The breed originated primarily in the west central part of Italy and was found in a wide variety of environmental conditions. Because of this, the cattle vary in size and type from region to region. The largest representatives of the breed, from the plains of Arezzo and Siena, have supplied most of the foundation stock that has been used in the United States and Canada. The name comes from the Chiana Valley in the province of Tuscany in Central Italy.
Bistecca alla Fiorentina is a porterhouse cut, in other words a thick T-bone steak, cut from a Vacca Chianina, the large white cattle that are raised in southern Tuscany, in the past to work in the fields, pull wagons, and such, and now to provide meat, which is extraordinarily tasty and tender. Florentines consider it the ultimate expression of Tuscan gastronomy, and it perhaps is today.
However, the name tells another story: It sounds like, and is, derived from the English word beefsteak, and as a cut was introduced by the wealthy English people who settled in Tuscany in the 1800s. Not to say that Tuscans didn't grill beforehand, because they certainly did, but this particular cut was not widespread. If anything, they used what is known as a costata, a term that can mean many things, including a t-bone steak that's cut thinner than a porterhouse, and can be just the contre-filet -- in other words, lack the tender filet that is fundamental to the Fiorentina.
Antica Trattoria Sanesi
via dell' Arione 33
Lastra a Signa (Florence)
+(055)-8720234
A wonderful Trattoria in Lastra a Signa some 20 minutes drive from Florence. Take the Firenze-Piza superstrada and exit at Lastra a Signa.
Some consider that you will find here "the best Bistecca alla Fiorentina in the world". Looking inconspicuously modest from outside, but huge inside. Absolutely packed on Saturday.
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