In the category of “Things in Italy that confuse the hell out of me” is: trying to buy a whole standing rib roast at my supermercato. It is basically the same cut of meat that they use here to make into the thick slabs of Bistecca Fiorentina.
I had a dinner party the other night for a few my local English-speaking pals. They were craving Prime rib, so I said I would oblige. They also wanted baked potatoes with sour cream. These are things you just can’t get at a restaurant here.
Normally I would buy my meat at my butcher, but since I was already at the Coop in Sansepolcro on Monday, I thought, “Let me just kill two birds with one stone and buy everything here”. Or so I thought.
I approached the meat counter, pointed to the slab of meat I wanted and asked for three ribs, the end cut – whole – for a roast. The man behind the counter is confused by my request. “Aspetta” he says or “wait”. So I wait as he goes in back and has a consultation with what appears to be the “head meat man”. My young counter man comes back out. “No. You cannot have this. I can cut as many bistecca as you want from this end of meat but I cannot give you the whole thing” he politely tells me.
I am confused. “Why not?” I ask. “Because Aldo told me that I could not. I will cut it for you. Whatever you want. How many bistecca do you want?” he says. “No, you do not understand” I tell him. “I am making a large roast for 6-8 people. I need the meat to be whole. I don’t want it cut. I don’t want steaks. It is a roast – an American roast” I explain. I don’t know why I said “American roast” but hopefully it would explain to him my strange request since he still looked perplexed.
In the end, no matter how much pleading, begging and explaining of our strange American customs of cooking meat, would he cut for me a rib roast. So I left the Coop confused and in a panic. I had the feeling that this perhaps might be some kind of Italian law, that they cannot sell the meat as a whole but I am unsure – I have to admit I did not understand everything that my you man was saying other than “I will cut as many steaks as you want” and “I cannot give you the whole thing. It has to be cut”.**
What do I do now? I have guests coming who are expecting a Prime Rib roast on the table? Do I get a bunch of bistecca and tie them all together and roast it that way? I have one day to figure it out and find a roast.
I stopped in to see Loreno my butcher. Hopefully he can help me. I explain to him my dilemma though not wanting to admit that I went to the Coop first. So despite the hesitant and puzzled look on his face, Loreno agrees to cut me a standing rib roast. I had him cut away the chine bones and then tie back on. “Ah” he said “Like we do for the pork roast – see!” and he proceeded to show me a pork roast that was cut and tied in the same fashion.
He asked me how I was going to cook it, what do we put on it? I told him that I cover it with rosemary, thyme, sea salt and pepper and then roast at a very high temp for about 20 minutes then turn down to a low temp for another one hour or so. This ensures a nice crispy outer crust and rare inside. “Maybe I will try that one day” he said.
While I was standing there waiting for him to trim and tie the meat up, I noticed some cards in a holder on the counter. They looked like pedigree cards. I asked Loreno about them. So what does he do? He stops what he is doing, steps out from behind his counter and starts going through each card with me.
Each card is numbered and then he points to show me that each tray of beef is numbered. The card matches up with the tray. All the meat on that tray comes only from one cow. The card then indicates where the cow is from, its ear tag number, its sire and dam information, when and where it was slaughtered, etc. He takes five minutes out of his time to go through all of this with me. You certainly know where your meat comes from this way!
I should have known better. I should have come to the butcher shop first, but I wanted convenience. Now I have my roast and I received a quick lesson in my Italian meat! Proving once again that a supermercato is just not the way to shop. For personalized service, buy local.
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**By the way, if any of my Italian friends out there know the reasoning, let me know. I am truly curious.
