The top chef, who is also head of the Milanese Butcher’s Association, has been educating meat lovers in Italy on how to gain a greater understanding of different cuts and how to cook them to perfection.

The lessons are being organised as part of ‘Meat Academy’, run in association with Bord Bia, which is designed to allow anyone passionate about beef, whether expert or novice, to learn the art of cooking beef.

The course commenced with a lesson from Giorgio on the characteristics of quality Irish beef, highlighting Ireland’s grass-based production system, quality assurance scheme and other characteristics such as appearance and colour.

Future classes will see Giorgio demonstrating how to prepare raw beef dishes such as Carpaccio and tartar using premium quality Irish beef.

The venue for the course is his butcher shop in Via Spallanzani, Milan, where Giorgio’s family has generations of history in the meat business.

According to figures from Bord Bia, the value of Irish beef exported to Italy in 2014 was €214 million, an increase of 15% on the previous year (in excess of 40,000 tonnes) due to beef imports rising by 18%.

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney visited Italy for this year's St Patrick's Day celebrations where he launched an Irish beef promotion at a leading Italian supermarket in Rome, Carrefour Italia Gourmet store on Piazza Morelli.

Aidan Cotter, CEO of Bord Bia, who accompanied the minister said that Italy represents an important market for Irish food and drink exports. "Italy was Ireland's third-largest export destination for Irish beef after the UK and France in 2014," he said.

"We exported approximately 47,000 tonnes of Irish beef to Italy, accounting for almost 20% of total exports to Continental Europe. It is the main export product and accounts for 60% of Ireland’s exports to Italy, with a value of €184m.”

With just 51% self-sufficiency in beef supply, Italy is the largest importer of beef in the European Union, taking in 400,000 tonnes of beef annually. Based on 2014 figures, Irish beef accounts for almost 12% of Italy’s beef import requirement.