Agliata/Aggiada

There is a common, and largely mistaken, assumption that you can distinguish Northern and Southern Italian cooking because the latter uses garlic and the former does not. Tell that to the Ligurians, who are unquestionably northerners and who consume more garlic than the people of Puglia at the heel of the Italian boot. In Puglia, most people favor onions over garlic, except near the city of Foggia. Conversely, the Ligurians prize garlic and use it with great sophistication. Invariably, they remove the green heart at the center of the clove, because that part gives bitterness to a dish. One classic use for agliata (called aggiada in dialect) is in tandem with Fegato alla Genovese (Genoese calf’s liver). The main difference between the two agliata recipes listed below is that the first one is unabashedly garlicky, while the second one has more balance among different flavors: salty, bitter, and garlicky.