This dish has its origin in Busto Arsizio (Italy). It consists in beef meat cut in little pieces, cooked with butter, sliced lard, fennel seeds closed in a little bag and red wine. It needs to be eaten with Polenta. The name Bruscitt (crumbs) let us think about its origin: farmers used to cooked it using scrap meat. Lombardy tradition emerges in this typical recipe of Busto Arsizio.
Bruscitt of Busto Arsizio
Bruscitt of Busto Arsizio
Ingredients – 4 people
    • 800 gr beef
    • 60 gr butter
    • 40 gr gr sliced lard
    • Salt and pepper q.s.
    • 10 gr fennel seeds
    • 2 garlic cloves
    • 300 ml red wine

PINGREDIENTS FOR POLENTA

  • 300 gr cornmeal
  • 2 liters of water
  • 1 spoon of olive oil
  • salt and pepper q.s.

 

The procedure will take 4 hours 45 minutes. (Cooking 3 hours 45 minutes). If the Bruscitt are too liquid, keep cooking them without the lid. If they are too dry, add some butter.

Traditional method

  • Remove the excess fat of the meat and cut it in small cubes (0.5 cm per side). Cut the lard in small pieces too.
  • Put the fennel seeds and the peeled garlic cloves in a little gauze bag and close it with a string.
  • Let the butter and the lard melt in a pan. Add the meat, the little bag and salt and pepper. Mix it and cover with a lid. Let the meat cook for 3 hours on a low heat and add some red wine once in a while.
  • To make the Polenta: when the Bruscitt is half cooked, boil 2 liters of salted water and add a spoon of olive oil. When it is boiling, add the cornmeal. Mix continuously until it will be cooked and soft.
  • When the meat in the pan is softer, pull the little bag out, turn the heat up and add the remaining red wine. Keep cooking it for 5 minutes.
  • Put the Bruscitt on a plate with polenta and toasted bread.