Legend has it that many years ago, in Pistoia, the city’s old slaughterhouse did not sell giblets but threw them in the Brana river. The hungry prisoners of St. Catherine prison, seeing all that waste, asked for permission to have the offal and make a soup, adding some stale bread and water. These are the origins of "carcerato" soup, chef Ilario tells us, from Osteria La Limonaia. Today this soup is enriched and flavoured with vegetables, spices and cheese. "Here is my ‘carcerato’ soup recipe and my reworked ‘carcerato’: with the same ingredients but a street food feel to it".
You can also make a “carcerato” sandwich. Just take the giblets when they are well cooked and cut them up. Fill a small round bread roll with them and add salt, pepper and some grated pecorino.
Chef Ilario Taccioli is the fourth generation chef at Osteria la Limonaia, in Pistoia and currently a professor at the Professional Culinary Arts & Hotel Management School F. Martini in Montecatini Terme.
