Bistecca alla Fiorentina
A very thick T-bone seared over coals, stood on its bone, and served rare whatever anyone says.
Beef. Not vegetarian — contains beef.
Ingredients
- 1 T-bone steak, 1.2 kg and at least 5 cm thick
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- flaky salt
- black pepper
- 1 lemon, halved
Method
- Take the steak out of the fridge TWO HOURS before cooking. A piece this thick taken out cold will char outside and stay cold in the middle, and no amount of resting fixes it.
- Get the coals white hot. This wants fierce direct heat, not a moderate grill.
- Brush the steak with oil but DO NOT SALT IT YET.
- Grill 5 minutes on the first side without moving it, then 5 on the second.
- Now stand it UPRIGHT ON THE BONE for 5 to 7 minutes, leaning it against the grill bars if it will not balance. This is the step the dish is named for: the bone conducts heat into the thickest part, which is how a steak this deep cooks through to the middle without the outside burning.
- Take it off at 48 to 50C in the centre. It is served rare and asking for it well done is asking for a different dish.
- Salt it generously now, grind pepper over, and rest it 10 minutes. Salted before cooking the surface weeps and will not take a crust.
- Carve the two muscles off the bone and slice them across the grain. Serve with the lemon.
Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.
Filed under Italy · All recipes