“Our ideology, the founding idea of the way we work, is that first of all there should be respect for the animal that is raised”. The word of Mauro Brun, butcher since 1980 and owner with his wife Antonella of L’Annunciata Macelleria in the center of Milan between the fashion district and Brera.
No intensive farming or poor quality food and abuse: A good farming system results in the highest quality meat and animal by-products. If the animal is not raised with care and in a healthy manner, one cannot have a tender and tasty cut of meat, rich in an excellent nutritional supply, with a fine coating of fat. Same goes for milk or eggs.
In the butcher shop through dell’Annunciata, only the highest quality meats are on sale, coming from small selected farms, such as Piedmontese Fasona bred with the traditional method, Piedmontese Sanato, Free-Range Poultry, Grass-fed Scottish Angus And animals of the Valtellini breed for pasture.
“A prized breed clearly contributes to quality meat – explains Mauro Brun – and each breed provides a diverse product both in terms of nutrition and taste. Piedmontese Fasona, for example, is reared by the traditional method , which contains very lean meat, has a lower percentage of fat than chicken breast, has a more delicate flavor than other breeds and is commonly used for tartare and carpaccio. But be careful! Regardless! An animal may be of pure breed, but if it is badly reared it cannot produce good meat”.
Fortunately, there seems to be an increasing sensitivity to these issues: according to some recent research, at least 5% of farmers are leaving industrial sheds. A small percentage of plants in Italy (especially between Emilia Romagna and Piedmont) have been converted to ethical and sustainable practices; There are also growing “grass-fed” herds in which cattle are fed only on pasture for their entire life cycle.
“It is important to know the origins of animals – comments Antonella – we carefully seek out small breeders from whom we get our supplies. We know them personally, we know how they work, they work with animals How do they behave and what do they feed them from birth ”.
But are there ways to recognize meat coming from factory farms?
“The first trick – concludes Mauro Brun – is to see if the meat displayed on the counter produces water, if so the quality is not optimal. Even poorly carried out transportation compromises the quality of the meat. can, even prevent it from maturing. Basically, though, the best way is to trust trusted butchers who work seriously, professionally, and with passion. We’ve rounded up 25 This trust has built up over years of business and we now have loyal customers who support us with their presence and trust. And so do their children and grandchildren.”