If you live in (or visit) the heart of an Italian city you might not realize the degree to which Italian cooking revolves around the grill. If you head out into the suburbs, however, come mealtime and especially on holidays or weekends you're certain to smell the rich aromas of grilling meats, from backyard barbecues or -- if it's raining -- the hearths people have in their kitchens or tavernette. Though I have occasionally seen gas grills, the heat source is almost exclusively charcoal.
The word
bistecca derives from the English beefsteak, and though this is now Florence's signature meat dish, it was first prepared for the English who settled in Tuscany during the 1800s.
What is it? A thick Porterhouse cut, ideally from Chianina beef, grilled rare and seasoned with just salt and pepper. It can be memorable.
Vittorio used to man the grill when Fiesole's Misericordia (a lay brotherhood that does good) would organize a cookout, and I am eternally grateful to him for sharing his recipe. Like all cooks, I have tinkered with it -- adding lemon and fiddling with the herbs -- and you'll find my variation here too.
The word
scottadito means finger-burning, and gives an idea of how tasty these grilled lamb chops are -- people burn their fingers because they can't bear to wait for them to cool a little before plucking them from the grill. Alessio serves them with a zesty Diavola sauce.
By comparison with ribs I've had in the US these are extremely simple: salt, pepper, pork spare ribs, and a grill that's hot enough to cook them, rendering out excess fat, but not so hot that they'll dry out or burn. The do require watching, but are well worth the effort, especially if you grill up some vegetables too.
Take a chicken, set it on the grill, and squash it flat with a brick (in Rome they use basalt cobblestones). Sounds odd, but the recipe is at least as old as the Etruscans.
You might not think of hamburgers as Italian, but they figure prominently in the meat section of Italian supermarkets. I prefer to shape mine from ground beef, working the seasonings into the meat, and even my Father-in-Law, who isn't a burger type of guy, comes back for more.
An unusual recipe for pork side (uncured pancetta), rubbed with spices & herbs, and grilled. Quick to do and quite tasty. Dario Cecchini, Tuscany's best known butcher (he express mails meat all over the world from his shop in Chianti) did it for a cooking show a few years ago.
These are Sicilian, and contain cheese in the mix, and lemon too, and are grilled in lemon leaves. A wonderful treat.
Rabbit is quite lean, and needs help lest it dry out over the coals. Help that comes from lard, wrapped around the pieces, and sausage rounds put between them on the skewers.
I usually just grill sausages, and wait until I put them over a bed of grilled onions to puncture the casings and let the fat drip out (the taste is wonderful but not for dieters). However, spitting them, with cured lard between the pieces, is more delicate and a nice change of pace.
Spiedini easy to assemble: You take wooden skewers about a foot (30 cm) long, and slip pieces of meat onto them separating the pieces with slices of bread that will absorb the drippings. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and freshly chopped herbs (rosemary and sage work especially well, and some people also put bay leaves next to sausages), set them over hot coals, and cook until done.
