Livers in caul fat

 

A recipe we made on the Youtube channel

"Per fare figatelli de ucello, o di pollastri, o di porcho, o d'altro animale.

Se sonno de vitello, tagliali in pezzi como una noce, et imbratali di sale, di finocchio, et di spetie dolci; et infasciali in rete di porcho, o di vitello, et meglio di capretto, et poneli accocere nel speto, et
non vogliono essere troppo cotti. "

how to make small livers of fowl, pullet, pork, or other animals

If using veal, cut them into pieces like a walnut, and sprinkle them with salt, fennel [1], and sweet spices; and wrap them in a pig, or calf, and better goat caul fat [2], and place them on the spit [3], and they don't want to be overcooked [4].

[1] pretty clearly that means fennel seed, which I only slightly crush, not grind.
[2] I had a bit of a time finding it, you need a butcher processing their own meat. Doable in Ireland, very difficult in some other countries. Maybe speak to a farmer directly.
[3] I used skewers on a skewer box.
[4] whatever you do, do not overcook livers. Ideally they should be slightly pink in the middle

Ingredients:

• liver, 250 g for 4 people. This is a starter or intermediate dish, not a main.
• caul fat. As discussed above, this may be hard to acquire, but is essential. I used lamb caul.
• fennel seed, ca. 2 tsp.
• cumin, whole, ca. 2 tsp
• ginger, dry, ground, ca 1 tsp
• mace, whole, 1 blade
• cloves, whole, 4
• cinnamon, whole, ca 5cm

Method: 

Cut you liver into batons of ca 2 x 5 cm and put in a bowl. What I did not do in the video, but always helps is to dry roast your spices to activate them. It takes about 10 seconds in a hot and dry frying pan. Coarsely grind your spices and mix with the livers. When spicing, consider that we want an Indian level of spice flavour and that liver has a strong flavour of its own. Use your own judgement and if anything err on the side of too much spice. Salt is entirely optional in this dish, due to the high mineral content of the liver. Not salting also keeps the liver moist. I did not salt in the video and no member of the crew complained.

Wrap your liver into the caul fat in individual parcels. 

I cooked this on a skewer box grill and put several livers together on two skewers for easier control. You can do them on the grill, or, if no charcoal or gas grill is available, under grill (broiler for our American friends) in the oven. The grill should be on the highest setting. Take care not to overcook and serve with a green salad.