FINANZIERA ALL'ASTIGIANA

This is a complicated dish to prepare, made from ‘poor’ ingredients but much loved by the nobility, perhaps in view of its origins. It was eaten by the finance men of the Savoy royal house in their lunch break (they wore a long jacket known as a “finanziera”, hence the name of the dish). Used to the rather rich cuisine of the Royal chef Vialardi, they maintained that there was nothing better than a finanziera to keep you light. It was served as a starter, or better still as a main course. Calf sweetbreads and brains, cockerel crests and wattle, chicken livers, mixed pickled vegetables and mushrooms. The offal is blanched in water and vinegar then individually cleaned. All the ingredients are then diced, including the mushrooms, which are sautéed in a little butter and put into a pan with the pickled vegetables. Pour over white wine and Marsala and season.

Ingredienti:

1kg brains 500 g veal marrow 500 g sweetbreads 200 g cock crests 200 g ground beef 1 egg dry Marsala vinegar nutmeg parmigiano.

How to make finanziera:

Boil the sweetbreads and cock crests in water and vinegar for around a quarter of an hour, and the brains and marrow for an hour. Drain everything. Mix the meat with the egg, salt, parmigiano and nutmeg, and shape into little balls to brown in a frying pan. Dice the brains, marrow, sweetbreads and crests and brown each one separately. Put everything in a casserole with a little butter, add the Marsala and reduce. To give it its slightly tart flavour add a few spoonfuls of local mushrooms pickled in vinegar.

Wine recommended:

Barbera d'Asti