Dario Cecchini, the most famous butcher in Italy: “The flesh without ethics has no future, an animal must live outdoors, die with dignity and of him you have to eat everything, not only the steak”

Dario Cecchininobody discusses him, he is the most famous butcher in the world: he says whole songs of the Divine Comedy to the customers of his restaurant in Panzano, Chianti, He is a true friend of Sting and Carlo of England And he was even the protagonist of an episode of Chef’s Table on Netflix. And his “funeral of the steak” in the “crazy cow” era was taken up by Reuters and relaunched all over the world. But behind the histrionic, of Tuscan brand, in the name of “meat diem” and “beef or not to beef”, Dario Cecchini is a skilled entrepreneur And he loves Bolina’s navigation.

Lives and works in his Panzano, In the heart of Chianti, halfway exactly between Siena and Florence. A countries of just over a thousand people, where, however, the whole world passes to sit at its tables (Solociccia And Bistecca workshopor even just to participate in the show in which Cecchini – in the middle of the Central Viale – pay “his” Chianti in glasses of Japanese, Indian, Brazilian, Scandinavian and also Italians of all place, while they, ecstatic take photos in front of the door of theAncient butcher Cecchini. In short, an atmosphere so perfect as to seem fake. But it is not.

On the eve of his 70 years, “the” Cecchini is the king in his job as a butcher, who certainly does not take lightly. “I work with death every day, – he says – I must know how to respect and honor it: as the body of Christ has to do with religion, the body of the bove that dies to feed us has to do with humanity” is one of his most straight thoughts, which he puts into practice daily between half -year -old and the other. He is the right man, in the right place and at the right time to talk about meat. On the occasion of a prize, they called him “a craftsman who searches and promotes quality, ethics and respect for animals, who knows how to transform the trade into art and thought into philosophy – with the same spirit that made Tuscany in the Renaissance”. Maybe too much for a butcher? Judge you

Cecchini, none like her in Italy can talk about meat. What is your first thought?
«Respect for the animal. I have been a butcher for 50 years, they preceded me for seven generations of snipers with the same job. I simply say that Biosgna think first of the animal and then to people, giving them free spaces, a happy life and a dignified death ».

Several times he said he plays his job as a mission. What would it be?
«That of making this job better. The butcher has a negative fame, also in the language: the people use this term to indicate those who kill or send to death brutally. Instead I would like to improve this job for those who and do so ».

We mention one of his thoughts: “We must know how to respect and honor the animal who dies to feed us: therefore everything must be used of that animal, from the nose to the tail”. In fact, he does it in butcher and in his premises. But do people always agree?
«When he is at the table, the problem does not arise. My menu for 40 euros from Solociccia and 50 euros to the workshop includes every cut, which sometimes also changes between lunch and dinner: the steak arrives at the end, and not always, as a taste after the spider has tasted (editor’s note, is located inside the hip bone), the ass carpaccio or the tender salad which are the boiled knees of the animal. In the butcher, however, I have no customers who ask me for a fillet, because I educated them. Education is important: in my premises, the menu is fixed and sits there at the same time on convivial tables. You do conviviumwe live together as the Latins said ».

The Officina della Bistecca, one of the two rooms of Dario Cecchini in Panzano. The other is Solociccia. In both, only one fixed price menu has served which includes all the cuts of meat.

Meiganarnone

Never as now the debate on the meat is fiery.
“He says it to me? I have also received underground letters. The question is not to divide between Guelphs and Ghibellini. It is that you have to be carnivorous with conscience: to eat the raw material and all the cuts, this is my message. The cows I have chosen for 35 years grazing in the Pyrenees National Park, in Catalonia: the only ones who have been permission of the king for 150 years to be in that area. The animals are so free that in summer they disclose in France “

Horrible images of intensive farms are often seen. What do you think?
«I don’t want to see them, because it’s not my world. They are the example of human greed that has no limits and does damage not so much to the sector but to humanity. I always say: look at the eyes of your butcher: if they show passion and trust you, spend something more because they certainly use not mistreated animals and respect their work ».

I read a data of the latest Coop report: 22% of Italians already say they have reduced meat consumption, while 85% of the 18-35 years have already done it or are thinking about it. Among the reasons, for 14 million Italians, there is also the decrease in the pollution that follows. Many think that if we all tried even just to decrease the consumption of meat we would all have a benefit. What do you think?
«That the problem is upstream, not downstream. In addition to making the animal live in dignity, it is not a question of decreasing consumption, but we would kill everything less. Wastening meat means sacrificing more. A Japanese journalist was thrilled by the fact that there is no dustbin in my butcher shop! With the bones we make the Superbrodo Cecchini which becomes a cocktail adding gin, lemon juice and ice. With the fat we fry the meatballs and with the back of the pig we make the “Chianti butter”. Did I make the idea? “

Yes. Having said that, what do you think of synthetic meat and the ban on doing research in Italy?
«I am a great liberal. As long as they do not call it meat, it is right to find alternatives. Because I hate fundamentalists like Savonarola. Do you remember the story? When he took power in Florence, he ordered that the sale in the public squares of tripe and lampredotto was prohibited: after three days they put him at the stake and they said were the butchers … “

Dario Cecchini among the half -age of animals that come from the Catalan Pyrenees.

What relationship does it have with vegetarians and vegans?
“In my clubs there is always a menu for them with traditional dishes such as tomato or invented pappa. They are lucky, more than those who preceded me: they only ate the meat that remained from the sale and then a lot of vegetables. Just to say one: only at 18 I tasted my first steak. Instead today you can choose and in any case, I have never had problems with vegetarians and vegans. If anything with extremist carnivores, you believe me ».

More than once, he said he doesn’t understand the chefs. How come?
«For heaven’s sake they will also be good and starry, but the meat is the work of the butcher. The chefs think only of the cheek, the fillet, the hameold, at most the diaphragm. Only tender and young meats when I serve all the cuts, of animals that have 20 to 24 months. For this I invite the butchers to do like me: some tables in the place, a fixed menu, simplicity and joy ».

Cecchini, how do you see the future of the flesh?
«On the one hand it is not easy: families have become small, they cook less and the dishes that require the least refined cuts do not attract: I speak of the braised, the boiled, the stew that were once normal, at least on Sunday. Here too, it is up to the butcher to get busy: putting in the jar for one or two people of the delicious dishes, just to be heated, who allow you to go beyond the ‘slice’ or the entrecote. On the other, I repeat to her: a world without ethics has no future. But I’m not just talking about meat or butchers ».