Florentine t-bone steak (bistecca alla fiorentina)

A true Florentine steak uses Chianina beef, and is always served rare. The steaks are enormous and designed to be shared – as you can see from this recipe, one steak serves two to three people. Chianina is a large, muscular, slow-growing breed of cattle from the Chiana Valley in Italy. They were the oxen used to pull ploughs in the days of the Romans. Their meat is full flavoured, deeply coloured and surprisingly lean and tender – so tender you can eat it with a spoon.