A memorable meal, part 1

Dario Cecchini might be the most famous butcher in the world. His butcher shop is in the small town of Panzano in the Chianti region of Tuscany. While the town is small with 1,161 people, his butcher shop is known by people who have read Bill Buford’s book, Heat, in which he describes his time in Panzano and in this New Yorker article. Mario Batali also studied with Cecchini.

Part of the antipasti

Besides his shop Cecchini operates a number of small restaurants in the town and all are intensely popular. While we were nearby we had to visit the shop and try a meal.

The meal began at noon with antipasti served across the narrow street at the butcher's shop consisting of wine, olives, sliced salamis, toasts with lardo, and toasts with oil and salt. The antipasto was so informal that Cecchini had handed us glasses of wine before we were clear who he was. By 1pm the crowd was overflowing into the street.

From the choices of many varied menus, we chose the Solo Ciccia Menu del Macellaio. Everyone who had chosen this menu was placed at the same table and courses were served family style. The table was set with bread, olive oil, 1.5 liter bottles of wine, dishes holding sliced raw carrots, celery, and fennel, and freshly made broth in thermos containers.

The meal begins

Beans and "up the bum"

At 1pm we began with the meal with 10 people, 6 Swiss who spoke Italian, 2 Italians, and the 2 of us. We munched on the raw vegetables dipped in fruity olive oil, a simple dish called pinzimonio. Quickly platters of slices of sausage garnished with thin slices of lemon were brought to the table. Some time was spent with the bread, raw vegetables, and salamis. Then platters of bruschette of toasted bread with delicious ragù appeared.

Slices of beef roast

Then the meat dishes arrived one by one. First was the ramerino in culo, a semi-tartare mixture of ground beef and seasonings lightly cooked on the bottom, raw on the top, stuck with a sprig of rosemary. The name of the dish is translated (gently) as “rosemary up the bum.”

A sort of salad

Next came bowls of freshly cooked cannellini beans and thin slices of medium-rare roast of beef. The beef was dressed with a drizzle of olive oil and was slightly salty. After that platters of bits of beef stew covered with slivered carrots, celery, and thin rounds of red onion. The final meat course was beef stew cooked in red wine with tomatoes and onions.

Finally for dessert a yellow olive oil cake flavored with orange was placed on the table and orders for coffee were taken. After desert and coffee were consumed the server produced bottles of cordials and grappa though the diners were fairly exhausted from all that the wine and delicious food.

Beef stew

Dessert

The cost for the meal was a flat €30 per person. Other menus were offered at €10, €15, €20 and €50.