Gran Pezzo: a Tuscan recipe

Food in Tuscany has kept a very original and archaic nature. No compromises with a modern, world cuisine. Tuscan people don’t like compromises. In the same way as they were able to maintain the originality of their landscapes, avoiding as much as possible jerry-building (unfortunately very common in other parts of Italy), so they also kept in their cuisine many ancient recipes.
Eating their vegetable soups, meat, pasta and many other special recipes, I always have the feeling I am still eating the same recipes as in the time of Dante, Boccaccio, Lorenzo de’ Medici… This feeling is even stronger when we are in those wonderful medieval villages, as Montefioralle for example, or in places with view on the renaissance buildings in Florence.
The flavours are strong and masculine, the ingredients are natural and rustic. Recipes are transmitted since generations, with a big respect of tradition.
My brother-in-law who is born and raised in Florence is an artist of Tuscan cuisine. Last weekend in their beautiful house on the Chianti hills he prepared the Gran Pezzo, which literally means “big piece” and this is the name of the recipe, but it is also a very big piece of meat!…

The Gran Pezzo is a huge rib steak (more or less 3 kg) with bones, bound together with a string and then cooked for a couple of hours in the oven at high temperature. In this case he used the firewood oven in the garden. He prepared the meat covering it with salt and pepper. The result was delicious: a crisp crust outside and rosy and savoury inside. Accompanied by baked potatoes and some bottles of Chianti Classico, it was a great Tuscan dinner!