The Chianina
Steak on stilts

Chianina oxen are a rare breed that grazes in the Val di Chiana. Their quality meat is tastier and less greasy. The bistecca alla fiorentina is the most famous meal with Chianina meat.

The Tuscans are pride that Chianina oxen are bred free of hormones. The herds only get grain to eat, which gives the meat the special taste. Chianina meat is the most expensive in Italy.

The Chianina cow has a white colour and mustn't have any spots. Her most important characteristic is without any doubt her size. Tuscans call her il gigantismo , the gigantic. Full-grown bulls can be up to 1m 80 and their weight can rise to 1800 kilograms. Calves are born brown and keep on growing for 24 months, which exceptionally long compared to other races.

The story of the Chianina goes back to the Etruscans. They used the oxen as drought-animals and kept them for their skin and their meat. The Chianina cow remained a really wanted breed with an outstanding reputation. The cattle-breeders from the Val di Chiana wanted to keep it that way and therefore they united. Thus they wanted to make sure the traditional breeding continued to exist. In 1935 this eventually led to a ministerial resolution which denoted three cattle-breeding that only occupy themselves with the genetic preservation of the breed.

Of those cattle-breedings La Fratta is the biggest. Today 300 oxen are kept in La Fratta and their pedigree is accurately kept up in the libro genetico.

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- This site was realised thanks to the co-operation between the town council and the inhabitants of Torrita di Siena and ten graduated students 2004 from the “Katholieke Hogeschool Mechelen”, Belgium, department communication science, campus De Ham. - © Torrita di Siena