Every Part Counts

One of my favorite meals that I have had so far in Italy was on our second day in Panzano when our group went to Dario Cecchini’s restaurant for dinner. We got to experience eating many parts of the cow that most of us have probably never ate before. We ate muzzle, braised meats, rosemary up the ass, roast beef, ragu on toast, boiled beef along with Tuscan style bread, beans, vegetables, and olive oil cake. Our placemats showed which part of the cow where each dish came from, which can be related to Berry’s text, “Pleasure of Eating.” In this reading, Berry should form a relationship with our food and to not be blind consumers. We learned that Dario gets his cows from Spain, uses only the freshest, locally grown produce, and makes sure to use all parts of the cow.

Dario’s goal as a butcher is to maintain a sense of morality towards the animals. He believes that every part of the animal should be used. If he were to waste the animal, he would be taking advantage of the animal and it would be considered selfish. This relates to Singer’s concept of speciesism, in which humans value their life over animals lives. Dario doesn’t want this to be the case which can be proven by his project with the long life chianina cows. He is experimenting with chianina cows to care for them until they die and then use their meat. Although, these cows have not been eaten yet, he makes sense to butcher the animals that were taken care of properly. His goal is not about health, but about getting the most out of the animals he butchers.

Besides the fact that anyone can walk into the butcher shop and get free bread and wine at pretty much anytime of the day, I have always felt a family atmosphere being at Dario’s. All of the tables are family style, so they are long and many different groups would be sat at the same table. Although I never got to experience this, I think it is an awesome concept and is one aspect that makes Dario’s restaurant so special.

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The place mat showing every part counts

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Roast Beef at Dario’s restaurant

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Chianina cows at Dario’s Project

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