Bistecca alla fiorentina

Cook it at home: Bistecca alla fiorentina

The rules are simple and strict: a very thick porterhouse at room temperature, a hot hardwood fire, salt only after cooking, and rare inside. Let the steak stand on its bone at the end to warm the center.

Pans and tools

• Charcoal grill and chimney starter
• Long tongs
• Instant-read thermometer
• Large cutting board and sharp carving knife

You’ll need

• 1 porterhouse (T-bone) steak, 2 1/2 to 3 inches (6 to 7.5 cm) thick, about 3 to 3 1/2 lb (1.4 to 1.6 kg), from a good butcher
• Flaky or coarse sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Best Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• Hardwood lump charcoal (or oak or olive wood embers)
• To serve: cannellini beans with olive oil and sage, and arugula

Steps

1. Take the steak out of the fridge 2 hours before cooking so it reaches room temperature all the way through. Pat it very dry. Do not salt it.
2. Light a full chimney of lump charcoal and let it burn to glowing embers with a thin coat of ash, 25 to 30 minutes. Spread in a thick even bed. Set the grate 3 to 4 inches above the coals. You should only manage your hand over it for 2 seconds.
3. Lay the steak on the grate and leave it alone for 5 to 6 minutes, until a dark brown crust forms and it releases easily.
4. Turn it once and cook the second side another 5 to 6 minutes.
5. Stand the steak upright on its T-bone for 5 to 8 minutes, moving it so the bone, not the meat, sits over the hottest spot. This heats the meat near the bone. Pull it when the thickest part reads 115 to 120F (46 to 49C).
6. Rest the steak on a board 10 minutes.
7. Cut the strip and the tenderloin away from the bone, then slice each across the grain into 1/2-inch (1 cm) slices. Arrange them back around the bone on a warm platter.
8. Now season generously with sea salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Serve with lemon, beans and arugula.

Contains: None.