By chance I asked neighbour Anna Crombie, long-time Leasider and local landscape architect (read “The Community Comes to LHS,” Leaside Life, May 2024), if her mom, born in Italy, had a traditional Easter recipe from Le Marche, her region by the Adriatic Sea. Anna was quick to respond that “my mom’s a good cook but it is my dad you need to see.” And she was right. Mike Crombie’s fegatini con le uova – much sexier sounding than liver with eggs – is as old as Italy and simple to make. Served as a primo, or starter, in Central Italy at the Easter meal, this dish has made a liver convert of me.
The recipe appeals to Mike for a few reasons. “Firstly, it is simple to make; secondly, it fits with my philosophy of not wasting food.” He explains that you can prepare it with fresh liver, or you can use up liver cooked the night before without compromising taste. Mike says that every society eats liver in one form or another, from French pâté to Chinese style drunken chicken liver and everywhere in between.
“Italian peasants at Easter ate lamb fresh from the farm but tried not to throw away anything.” Being ecological and economical meant they found the perfect use for this organ, rich in iron. This is not your grandfather/mother’s liver and onions, not by a longshot. Having a butcher for a dad, I grew up spelling offal with an “a”. This dish is pleasantly surprising since the liver is first boiled, then chopped into tiny cubes and sautéed in olive oil, white wine and most importantly lemon zest and then combined with eggs. Mike says the key is the fresh lemon zest for flavour. I also learned that salt should never be added once the food is on the plate. Mike used just the right amount while whisking the egg mixture before pouring it into the pan, essentially making a scrambled egg dish with kick.
Mike, an intrepid traveller, approaches cooking with the same adventurous spirit, learning cuisines from Europe and Asia. Since his dad worked in the mining industry, as a child he lived in the Arctic (in a gold mining town) and Ireland (at a copper mine south of Dublin). He returned to Canada to complete his high school and undergrad studies in Toronto, then moved to Germany to learn at the post-graduate level and eventually worked in the family business. Mining is in his veins, so his present position as CEO of a company supplying specialty feed ingredients to the dairy industry makes good sense. While many of the products are protein-based, minerals such as limestone are mined and used in the mix, providing calcium to the milk cows.
I asked Mike how his passion for “cheffing” all started. “I have always known how to prepare simple things, but it was 10 years ago I started cooking in earnest,” he says. “Now I cook every day, making more time-consuming and elaborate meals on weekends.” He is mostly self-taught and likes to improvise. He is smart about learning from online sources since some of them are blatantly inaccurate. “A sure sign of one to avoid is where ingredients are used that don’t go together, don’t make sense.” He also is quick to observe other cooks’ techniques and to reach out to ask for tips. Just the other day he asked a Korean friend what to do with leftover tofu. Mike is now at a point where he is happy to offer advice to novices.
One thing I learned from him about ingredients is that you can prepare many of them yourself. For example, he boiled the liver in water to which he added chicken stock he makes himself with bones left over from a roast. It is easy enough to buy supermarket chicken stock, but hard to find one low in sodium. Preparing your own gives you full control over what you eat. One of his favourite dishes, from Poland, calls for a side of cabbage. Instead of buying a jar of prepared sauerkraut he ferments his own. These are useful and empowering tips.
Liver and eggs may not be the first dish that comes to mind when you think of Easter in Italy but try it for yourself and see if it doesn’t make your top 10. Grazie, Mike, e Buona Pasqua!
Recipe:
Fegatini Con Uova
- Rinse liver and boil in water for 5-7 minutes with juice from 1/2 a lemon and a bouquet garni (skip this step if using left over liver)
- Chop liver into small pieces and sauté on medium-high flame in olive oil with spices (salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme) until well browned
- While liver is cooking, whisk raw eggs (say 2 per person) with salt and lemon zest from one lemon
- Add white wine and some lemon juice to liver and deglaze the pan
- Reduce flame and add eggs, stir until eggs are cooked
- Garnish with chopped parsley
