Antonio Carluccio, Priscilla Carluccio

Fegato

Liver

Appears in
top 1000Carluccio's Complete Italian Food
Carluccio's Complete Italian Food

By Antonio Carluccio and Priscilla Carluccio

Published 1997

  • About
Liver is the best-known and most popular offal in all of Italy. It contains the important vitamins A and D, and some of the B vitamins, as well as quite a lot of iron. The livers of all domesticated animals are sought after and in some cases are quite expensive. Naturally, like most offal, liver must be very fresh. Whichever liver you use, you must first remove and discard the fat and membrane surrounding it before cooking, as these make the liver bitter and inedible.

Ox liver is large, dark and tough. It is usually sliced and braised in wine. Calves’ liver is the most frequently used in Italy and is popular for its tenderness and fine flavour. It is smaller than ox liver, although it still weighs about 2-3 kg (4½-67½ lb). As well as being simply fried or grilled, calves’ liver is also the foundation of many recipes, including fegato alla veneziana in which it is stewed with onions, and as the basis for pâtés. Pigs’ liver is also popular in Italian cooking: like ox liver it is very dark in colour, but is much smaller and has an excellent flavour. It can be cooked in various ways, including as part of the fritto misto or to make fegatelli, little parcels of chopped liver enveloped in caul fat and baked or fried in lard. My mother used to pin the caul around the liver using pieces of a bay tree branch, to give it even more flavour.