Da Muzzicone,
Castiglion Fiorentino, Arezzo
Just
came across these photo's from May 2013 and thought that it was necessary to
dedicate post to La Fiorentina (Tuscan Porterhouse T-Bone Steak)
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If the restaurant is a serious place the waiter will come show you the cut of meat
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A couple times a
year I get this incredible craving for a great steak.
Living in the
landlocked region of Umbria the specialty is pork, but in Tuscany the specialty
is cow, and what a cow it is…or was.
Graziano
introduced me to La Fiorentina (Florentine t-bone steak) in about 2006 and ever
since then it has been worked into my diet a couple times a year. I love to make a day of it and drive out to
Tuscany for lunch, never on a Friday though, Friday is for fish.
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| a little antipasti plate |
One of the first
places I believe that I ever ate La Fiorentina was at a classic restaurant in
Castiglion Fiorentino called Da Muzzicone.
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| hot spot |
On Sunday afternoons it’s packed with happy Italian families enjoying a
wonderful lunch at huge long tables filled with tons of food and the pink
Fiorentina.
In Tuscany the
Fiorentina usually comes from the beautiful white Chianina cow. It’s cooked on a wood or charcoal burning
grill until rare served immediately.
The
traditional Fiorentina is served quite rare and I love it! The meat when good is aged to perfection, and
there is no blood on the plate. The best
t-bones come with the filet, which is the smaller part of meat on one side of
the t-bone.
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| our steaks in grilling line up |
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| grilled to perfection! |
The usual
condiment is coarse sea salt and extra virgin olive oil and sometimes some
rosemary.
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| this Morellino was quite good |
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| everyone was so inspired, and the kids were still hungry so we ordered a tagliata al rosmarino e pepe verde |
My favorite wine
pairing is a serious Chianti Classico Riserva or Vino Nobile di Montepulciano,
Brunello’s good too, but I prefer an easy drinking wine with this plate.
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| our table |
On this occasion
we brought our friends from Virginia who were living in Umbria.
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| desert, cantucci & vin santo |
They really enjoyed it and so did we. Great meal, great company, great memories.
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