The second in a series of extracts from Semplice Real Italian Food

Semplice Real Italian Food by Dino Joannides shares his fascinating gastronomic encounters with producers, chefs, cooks and fellow epicureans and his unique network of contacts and over 30 years of food related knowledge and experience. 

Taking different elements of Italian cooking and exploring their origin and provenance, Dino will explode myths and expound facts surrounding some of the key ingredients in Italian cooking. There are also 100 delicious recipes to show you how to put your well-sourced ingredients together to make the most amazing, achievable and authentic Italian possible.

In the second of three extracts from the book we take a closer look at braised shin of veal (Ossobuco alla Milanese).

This classic Milanese dish is thought to have originated in the city’s restaurants during the 19th century. It uses a cut or thick slice from the veal shank, which, if not on display in your butcher’s, can usually be ordered on request.

Bizarrely, one of the best versions of this dish I have ever eaten was at Ribot, one of my favourite restaurants in Milan, which actually specializes in Tuscan food but has a few Lombardian daily specials. The meat they used was vitellone from Fassone cattle and had a much deeper flavour than usual. If you want to try this dish in its hometown and be certain it is on the menu, head to Antica Trattoria della Pesa, which first opened in 1880.

As always, there is much debate about the authentic recipe for ossobuco, such as whether or not it should include tomatoes or gremolata. More unusual is that it is the only example I can think of where a meat course is served with risotto. For that reason, when ordering it in a restaurant, it is advisable not to have a pasta or rice dish as a first course.

I always make enough ossobuco for eight people even when cooking for four because the leftovers are delicious. Slipped off the bone, the meat can be mixed into tagliatelle or used as a stuffed pasta filling. The latter is an idea first used by Giorgio Locatelli, I think, to wean ‘ladies who lunch’ on to ossobuco as they found the traditional way of serving it unappealing.

See the recipe for this dish here.

Dino Joannides is a consummate food fanatic and bon Viveur. With an Italian mother and half Greek half Corsican father he spent his first years in Italy before moving to the UK. Over the last 30 odd years he has traveled and eaten all over Italy in people’s homes, simple trattorias and the finest restaurants. Dino believes that good quality ingredients, in small quantities, are what make a perfect meal.

Get your copy of Semplice Real Italian Food Book by Dino Joannides here