27-11-2013

Preparing Bourguignonne: the meat

Important advises on what kind of meat to use in order to cook a perfect fondue

A convivial dish, originally from Switzerland, the Fondue Bourguignonne is very popular abroad too. Butcher Aldo Zivieri suggests 3 versions: traditional, with beef, farm-style, with pork, and extreme, with venison sirloin. Tomorrow we will speak of the matching sauces

With the arrival of winter, it’s time for Fondue Bourguignonne, a preparation of Swiss origins (but largely spread below the Alps, especially in Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta) which allows the guests, usually sitting in a circle around the table, to share the gesture of cooking some small pieces of meat in sizzling extra virgin olive oil, pairing each piece with different sauces. Today, together with butcher Aldo Zivieri of Monzuno (Bologna), we learn which are the most suitable types and cuts of meat. Tomorrow we will speak of the matching sauces.

TRADITIONAL. This is the finely cleaned beef fillet, totally deprived of the fat. It is diced according to one’s liking, but should never be more than 3 cm in size. As for the breed of the cow, we only use those from Piedmont, from Consorzio La Granda. The cattle is fed with food that is free of any silage and any other non-natural element, something which allows for the final dish to offer as much flavour and health as possible. As for the cooking (only a few minutes will be necessary) we recommend an extra virgin olive oil that is not too aromatised: a delicate meat such as this could be overshadowed by the aroma of the oil.

Aldo Zivieri

FARM-STYLE. In comparison to the traditional version, the farm one uses beef as well as pork. The preparation is the same (the animal must be completely cleaned) and the cut is, once again, the fillet. However, the dices of pork should be smaller and should be cooked in extra virgin olive oil for a little longer. We recommend the use of a semi-untamed pig (in our case Mora Romagnola) because the meat will be tastier and most of all healthier.

EXTREME. In comparison to the first two versions, this one is characterised by the use of game meat. We recommend the use of venison sirloin which has a texture similar to that of the cow but with a totally different taste. Finally, we recommend a vertical tasting, that is to say one that includes all the different kinds of meat, starting from beef, moving onto the semi-untamed pig and finally the venison, so as to fully appreciate the flavours of each of the three different types of meat.

1. To be continued