Experience Tuscany

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Migliacci, also called Roventini, are a typical Tuscan dish made with the blood of the pig. The Tuscan pork processing tradition does not allow for waste of any part of the pig. Slaying the pork was an event in the Tuscan households of some decades ago, and it still is carried out in some scattered families that know how to prepare all the cold cuts and process the meat properly. For the better or the worse, it is a tradition that is disappearing. The person that slaughters the pig and prepares the cold cuts is called the “norcino”. The pig was slaughtered alive, hanging it upside down from its rear legs, then the through was slit and the belly opened up. The blood of the pig, flowing from its through, was collected to prepare recipes such as migliacci. Opening a quick side note, it must be said that this nevertheless gruesome death was not carried out so out of cruelty, but because there used to be no way of killing the pig without polluting even the slightest part of it. And since pigs were and still are used entirely (head, tale and huffs included) to make food for the winter, this used to be the only way to process pigs entirely.
Now, down with the migliacci recipe!

Ingredients:
- Fresh pig blood (liquid) 500 grams
- 1 egg
- A handful of grated Parmesan cheese
- Lard 10 grams
- Wild fennel seeds
- A handful of breadcrumbs
- Salt and pepper

Preparation:
Have the butcher prepare the blood to avoid its coagulation. Mix the blood with the egg, the Parmesan cheese, half the breadcrumbs, salt and pepper to taste, the fennel seeds, and the lard that you have previously cut in small pieces.
Pour the mix in a 1/2 inch-deep oven pan, and set in an oven heated up to 240 C or 464 F. After few minutes lower the temperature of the oven to 200 C or 392 F. The cooking time depends on the oven and the size of your pan. Consider that the migliacci should be very soft, cooked inside, but not get stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Alternatively you can pour it in a quite hot skillet using lard to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. The result should be similar to an omelet.

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