THE GREAT PORK BUTCHERS

An old tradition reborn thanks to young skilled workers is that of the versiliese pork butcher's . The original area is Gombitelli, a little village between Camaiore and Lucca, famous also for being a “linguistic island” where they still speak a German origin dialect because some blacksmiths settled there after the armies of Carlo V. It is not by chance that for centuries Gombitelli was also famous for its manufacturing of nails in addition to the production of local lard and mortadella. The tasty lard from Camaiore vies with that of nearby Colonnata, a village above Carrara suspended between the marble quarries. In Pietrasanta, on the other hand, many small pork butcher's produce il biroldo, a sweet tasting black pudding, delicious when still warm. And at Giustagnana, a village in the Seravezza area at the foot of of mountain Monte Altissimo - ( where Michelangelo used to go to choose the blocks of marble for his sculptures) - there is a pork butcher who makes Tizzone, a very soft salami that is matured in ashes, hence its name (tizzo-tizzone means ember).

FEGAT E L L I D I M A I A L E

for 4 people:600-700 g. pig’s liver, wild fennel seeds bay leaves, garlic and chillies, 4-5 bunches of turnip tops extra virgin oil salt and pepper.