Bresaola is air-dried, salt-cured beef from the Valtellina, an Alpine valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. Made from the leanest muscles of cattle (Bos taurus) — classically the round and other cuts of the hind leg — it is salted, seasoned and hung to dry for weeks until the meat turns a deep, even red-purple all the way through. Almost fat-free, it is sliced paper-thin and eats clean, tender and savoury, with a gentle salt edge and a faint, aromatic spice. The Italian way to serve it is barely dressed — fanned on a plate with lemon juice, good olive oil, a few shavings of cheese and a handful of rocket — which makes it read as a leaner, more delicate cousin of prosciutto.