The secondi piatti is the main course of a meal, usually based on meat, fish or poultry, and often accompanied by vegetables or salad. Due to the large number of skilled and avid hunters in Tuscany, wild game such as hare and boar are eaten more frequently than in most other regions of Italy.

In its use of meat, Italian cuisine differs from that of many Western countries. While the meat, fish or poultry may be the focal point of a meal; it is understood to be but one part of the whole. Because the meal will typically also include soup, pasta or rice, perhaps an antipasto to begin, as well as fruit and cheese to finish, the meat is often in small portions, frequently used primarily for flavour. Of course, there are also the spectacular dishes such as arista di maiale – a pork loin known as ‘the best’ – and the famous bistecca alla Fiorentina – Italy’s most prized T-bone – which we present served with rucola:


Bistecca Alla Fiorentina Con Rucola - Sliced Florentine Steak With Rocket

Bistecca alla Fiorentina is the most famous steak in Italy and ideally should be made with prized chianina beef, from the beef of the Val di Chiana. Their meat has a remarkable combination of leanness, tenderness and full flavour. The T-bone steaks weighing around 1 1/2 lb/750g per portion need no marinating and are cooked without butter or oil over a real charcoal or wood ash fire. The steak should be eaten rare.


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