The version of this dish I am referring to here is typical of central Italy and is eaten spread over small slices of lightly toasted bread, called crostini. Crostini con pâté di fegatini di pollo are traditionally served as an appetizer and they are featured in the menu of many restaurants. I recommend you try them if you find yourself in the area, and maybe compare the different local versions. It is also possible to purchase fresh pâté in stores.
I grew up eating the variation common in Umbria, the region where I was born. My mother would make pâté di fegatini for special occasions, using her hand-powered tritacarne (meat mincer) to mince the cooked fegatini. She has not made them in a long time, though, because she prefers the recipe a friend of hers uses, which apparently is rather complicated, and includes, among other ingredients, anchovies, capers and a salsiccia (pork sausage). All the added ingredients are detectable when you taste pâté di fegatini, so the liver flavor is not pronounced.
In Italian liver is fegato. Fegatino is a diminutive form of the word. And since we are talking about internal organs, let me also mention the word rigaglie, meaning giblets. Another dish my mother would sometimes make is sugo con le rigaglie di pollo (tomato sauce with chicken giblets) and use it to season her handmade tagliatelle.
[This post was inspired by Lori Lynn’s recent post about chicken liver pâté]
Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:
or launch the pâté di fegatini di pollo audio file [mp3].
[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]
Hmmm… Never had chicken liver pate before.
Paz
Paz, I am planning to ask my mother’s friend for her recipe when I see her in October, then we can try to replicate it.
uhm che mi fai pensare! o visto su un bel libro di terrine una cosa simile che voglio fare presto. Ti terrò aggiornata tramite il mio blog 🙂 Ciao!
hi simona,
liver pate was one of my late mum’s favourites. They eat alot of it in Germany, where she was brought up.
thanks for dropping in my pantry earlier,
love linda xxx
Ciao Francesca: hai acceso la mia curiosita’ e non vedo l’ora di scoprire che cosa stai meditando di fare.
Hi Linda and welcome. In central Italy we have a lot of poultry, so chicken liver is used in several dishes.
Hi Simona – thank you for mentioning me! I was thinking I should call my blog “Taste Liver With the Eyes” as I seem to post a lot of liver dishes (today is no exception).
I am intrigued by your mother’s pasta with a tomato sauce and giblets. That is a dish I have never come across…
You are welcome, Lori Lynn. Tomato sauce with chicken giblets is actually pretty common in central Italy. Usually they are added to ground meat (beef and pork), so their strong flavor is tempered a bit. The resulting sauce has a distinctive taste. I wonder if any Italian restaurant in the US serves this sauce.
Mmm, yes, that sauce with the giblets in it sounds delish. I must try that sometime.
I love chicken liver pate and have made it a couple of times, but not for ages. I remember one version had brandy and cream in it . . .
Hi Lisa. If you try to make chicken liver pate, I hope you’ll write a post about the experience.
chicken liver pâté 😮 .. This is strange…