- Mario With His Bresaola
Our bresaola is made by Mario Cardinale Bosio in Lanzada, an Alpine village that sits 1000m up the Malenco valley, just off the famous Valtellina. Mario was a lawyer in Milan for 31 years before jacking it all in and buying the empty butchers shop in Lanzada. He spent the next few years learning the trade from Emilio Nano, an old salumaio from the valley and Mario is now one of the few remaining artisan producers of bresaola in northern Italy.
- Mould Covered Bresaola In Mario’s Cantina
For his production of 70 bresaole a week he uses mature, grass fed beef from either France or Italy and makes 3 different types of bresaola from three different cuts: magatello, sotto fesa and punta d’anca. All three cuts come from the leg: the first two, from lower down, are more chewy and salty. Punta d’anca, the one we buy, is the tender salmon cut or eye of the silverside.
For a week the meat gets massaged every other day with Mario’s secret mix of salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and juniper, cloves, bay and garlic. It is then put into a casing and hung in a warm room at 18ºC for a week for the meat to relax and lose moisture.
- Mario’s Secret Spice Mix
After that the bresaola is cured for a further 6 weeks in cooler conditions: in spring and summer Mario wheels them outside every day to profit from the sweet mountain air. When it is ready Mario’s bresaola has lost at least 50% of its original weight. Industrial producers will limit this loss to 20% by not ageing for as long and using frozen meat. The finished bresaola is really tender and very delicately spiced. It is drier than industrial bresaola and will usually be served with olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice. Rocket and Parmesan also go with it very well.
- Lanzada In Valmalenco
As well as bresaola Mario makes his own recipe Carne Salata which he calls Malenca, The name comes from the Val Malenco and it is the same punta d’anca cut of beef that is left for a week in a bath of salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, bay and garlic then dried and lightly smoked. The result is very moist and very tender with a delicately smokey, almost pickled flavour that is redolent of roast beef. It’s unusual and absolutely delicious and is served like bresaola.