In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
You can get leg of lamb although it is much smaller than we are used to in the UK and usually looks as if the mad axe man has had his way with it!
Why not play safe and do roast chicken or roast turkey with all the trimmings.
I have yet to find a recognisable joint of beef here!
Spare ribs and chops (lamb and pork) are easy to find.
Or you could ask your butcher for a very, very, very thick Florentine steak, which would be equivalent to a beef rib joint.
Good luck!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
It is easier to use a butcher rather than head for the supermarket. If you tell the butcher that you want to do a roast 'fare un'arrosto' he will tell you which is best and show you the joints he has. So all you really need to know is the word for the meat you require.
Also butchers tend to have the picture of the animals in diagramatical form with the cuts numbered so you can point at the picture and say the number.
In our early days here we did have an incident whereby Moxie and the butcher were performing a curious dance pointing at parts of themselves much to the amusement of the locals!:laughs:
It might seem daunting at first to use a butcher rather than grabbing meat out of the fridges in a supermarket but I guarantee that you will get a far better joint.
We have cooked a 'roastie' dinner for two Italian families and they cannot get to grips with the food all being on the plate at the same time, also they are terrified of gravy!
Good luck!
Him (Moxie has wandered off somewhere) :bigergrin:
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Good grief!
As you can see from this it depends where you are as to what a cut of meat is called in Italy. It must be confusing for Italians what chance have we?
[url=http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carne#Tagli_di_carne_bovina]Carne - Wikipedia[/url]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Moved to : Italiauncovered.co.uk
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
A very good cut is "girello", the equivalent of round steak. You can make a very nice roast beef with it if you lard it with strips of bacon and slivers of garlic. Tie it with some string to keep the right shape. Baste the meat frequently with stock mixed with wine as it can dry up quickly. Add a few rosemary bits. A perfect roast.
If you have any leftovers, you can turn them into "vitello tonnato" and eat them for lunch with some salad. The sauce can be purchased if you do not feel like making it yourself and it is not bad at all. For this reason, buy a large piece of meat as it cooks better and you will use it all by "recycling" the leftovers.
I agree with Nielo. They know how to "massacre" a leg or shoulder of lamb. They do the same thing in both Italy and Spain.....
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Thankyou for everyone's advice. I think it's a good idea to explain to the butcher what I want to do with the meat and leave it in his hands. I have often done this (not for meat!) in builder's merchants, especially as everyone seems to always want you to succeed and will take care to give you what you need. I wondered if taking a before and after cooking photo, to show what I was hoping for, would help? I will print off everyone's suggestions to take with me and certainly look at the links.
grazie
pam
There is the Silver Spoon cookery bible translated from Italian into English. Inside are several pages devoted to cuts of meat which are very helpful.
Lamb is a rarity and although it can be found at Easter here in Umbria, it is a poor substitute for Welsh Lamb. I roast pork fillets which are easily spotted on display in the supermarket. I actually marinade it in the cheapest wine, with a little olive oil and couple of bay leaves, in a poly box in the fridge for a few days before roasting it as pork can give me tummy ache and this way it does not. Although expensive you cannot beat (or be safer than) roast filet of beef but you may have to order it in advance.