What to eat in Vicenza: the mountain meat dried over juniper

THE STORY ↓
WHERE TO BUY↓

A MOUNTAIN SPECIALITY TO SEEK OUT IN VICENZA
Carne secca di Lusiana is a traditional speciality of Lusiana Conco, in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy. Small cuts of beef or horse meat are seasoned with aromatics and slowly dried over the heat of a wood fire with juniper branches. The result is dark and smoky on the outside, pink and soft within.
For travellers exploring Italy through its regional food, this is a reason to head into the mountains north of Vicenza: a locally recognised speciality to buy from a village butcher or seek out at a traditional trattoria on the southern side of the Asiago Plateau.

WHAT MAKES CARNE SECCA DI LUSIANA DIFFERENT?
The local De.Co. description identifies drying as the principal preservation method, contrasting it with the salting used for bresaola and carne salada. It credits this approach with retaining more of the meat’s original flavour. Juniper branches contribute the distinctive smoky aroma.
De.Co., short for Denominazione Comunale, is municipal recognition of a product’s connection to its local food heritage. Here, it identifies carne secca with Lusiana and its mountain traditions.

FROM THE PASTURE TO THE TABLE
Lusiana Conco’s tourism office links carne secca to the traditions of shepherds practising transhumance, the seasonal movement of livestock between lowland grazing and mountain pastures.
Today, the meat is served thinly sliced, sometimes alongside beans and onions, warmed on a griddle with polenta and mushrooms, or prepared as carpaccio with olive oil and shavings of cheese. Its smoky flavour makes it a distinctive addition to a lunch devoted to Vicenza’s mountain produce.

WHERE TO BUY CARNE SECCA DI LUSIANA
Macelleria Ronzani
Via Gabriele Cantele 8, Lusiana Conco, Vicenza, Italy
Phone: +39 0424 406020
Macelleria Ronzani is named as producer and retailer in the local De.Co. listing. Its online shop lists both beef and horse versions of carne secca, so ask which is available when you visit. The Lusiana shop is the address to use for buying the speciality in its home village.

WHERE TO TASTE IT IN LUSIANA CONCO
Trattoria Locanda Alla Rosa
Via Velo 32, Lusiana Conco, Vicenza, Italy
Phone: +39 0424 406001
Alla Rosa’s seasonal cooking includes traditional dishes from Lusiana and the surrounding Vicenza countryside. Its website describes a winter antipasto with local sliced meats, fresh cheeses, a Grana cheese basket filled with porcini mushrooms over polenta, carne secca, apples and pears.
Call before booking to ask whether carne secca will be served on the day of your visit. The restaurant lists lunch from noon and dinner from 7pm, Tuesday to Sunday, with Monday as its closing day.

MAKE A DAY OF IT ON THE ASIAGO PLATEAU
Combine a food stop in Lusiana Conco with the Anello di Fontanelle, a circular walking route through hamlets along the old via armentaria del Sette. This livestock road linked the Marostica plain with the Asiago Plateau.
The route adds a landscape to the meal: village lanes, stone wells, cultivated plots, meadows and woodland along a road once used to reach the high pastures. Consult the local tourism office’s route information before setting out.