RECIPE - Brazilian Liver and Onions (Iscas com Elas)

This poetically named dish (click here to read more about its Portuguese name iscas com elas) has been on the menu of Rio de Janeiro's À Lisboeta restaurant for 80-plus years, and there's no sign its coming off the menu soon. It continues to be one of the restaurant's most-requested dishes.

À Lisboeta is famed in Rio for its Portuguese cuisine, and this dish clearly points to Portuguese origins. Of all the regions of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro has, in culinary terms at least, the closest links to the motherland - to Portugal. Historically it stands to reason, as during a significant part of the 19th century Rio de Janeiro, not Lisbon as you might think, was the capital of the Portuguese Empire. When Portugal was invaded by Napoleon's troops in 1808, the entire Portuguese court from the Emperor on down fled Lisbon and sailed away to Rio de Janeiro, from where they ruled what portions of the Portuguese empire that remained loyal. Many ordinary Portuguese followed their rulers, and even today Rio de Janeiro has a much higher percentage of its population claiming Portuguese ancestry than other regions of Brazil do.

Liver and onions is one of those love-it-or-hate-it dishes. Those in the love-it camp are fervent in their adoration, and those in the opposing camp often claim not to be able to abide even the smell of the dish. This recipe, therefore, is strictly for those who already know they love liver and onions and who want to make it the way they do in Rio. If you can't abide liver in onions in any language, don't try iscas com elas.
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RECIPE - Brazilian Liver and Onions (Iscas com Elas)
Serves 6

2 lbs (1 kg) beef liver, sliced thin
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
salt and pepper to taste
4 large white onions
1/2 cup extravirgin olive oil
1 cup pitted Kalamata or other black olives
1 cup cherry tomatoes,  washed
2 Tbsp Italian parsley, finely chopped
extra olive oil for drizzling
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Thoroughly wash the liver, then remove any membranes, fat or nerves. Cut the liver slices into thin strips, then place them into a mixing bowl. Add the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste, mix completely and let stand for 30 minutes.

Slice the onions into thin rings. Place them in another mixing bowl, separating the rings. Cover with cold water and let stand for about 10 minutes. Drain the onion rings completely, then dry them with paper towels. Reserve.

Heat a large frying pan, then add 1/4 cup of the olive oil. When it is hot but not smoking add the onion rings and fry, stirring frequently, until the rings are nicely golden. Remove the onions from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain them on paper towels. Reserve, keeping warm.

Add the remaining oil to the same frying pan. While it heats, remove the liver strips from their soaking water, reserving the water. Fry the liver in the hot oil just until the strips are browned - do not overcook. When the liver is done, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels and reserve, keeping warm.

Add the soaking liquid to the pan, add the olives and cherry tomatoes, then raise the heat and bring rapidly to a boil. Let boil for a few minutes, until the liquid has reduced by half. Remove from the heat, stir the liver back in and reserve.

Serve on a large lettuce-lined platter. Alternate layers of liver and onions, then pour the sauce over all. Drizzle olive oil over all and serve accompanied by white rice or boiled potatoes.

Iscas com Elas - Brazilian Diner Lingo

Adam and Eve on a raft

According to Wikipedia, diner lingo is a uniquely American verbal slang used by waitresses and cooks in hashouses and truck stops to communicate with each other. Wikipedia says diner lingo "is virtually unknown outside the US." Some wonderful examples of diner lingo can be found on the Wikipedia page devoted to the subject and on a website called dinerlingo.com - phrases like "looseners" for prunes, "English winter" for iced tea, "side of Joan of Arc" for french fried, and our personal favorite, "Adam and Eve on a raft" for two poached eggs on toast.

Though the USA might be the only English-speaking country to speak diner lingo, inventive names for restaurant dishes don't only exist there - Rio de Janeiro's restaurants are famous for their own version of diner lingo. You might call it " gíria da lanchonete." One of the most famous and most wide used examples in Brazil is a dish called "iscas com elas". It's difficult to translate into English, but the idea is something like "the bait and the girls."

Iscas com elas is basically liver and onions, a diner and luncheonette specialty both in Brazil and the USA. In this case, the liver is cut into thin strips before frying (the bait) and served with fried rings of onion (the girls). The dish, and its name, originated in Rio de Janeiro's 80-year-old À Lisboeta restaurant, where it's been on the menu since the day the restaurant opened. Located in Rio's central business district, À Lisboeta is packed every lunch hour with bankers, accountants, bureaucrats, blue-collar and office workers, all wanting a substantial, satisfying lunch - and many of those end up ordering iscas com elas. It's one of the most popular dishes on the menu, even after all these years.

Iscas com elas

À Lisboeta doesn't just serve plain old iscas com elas, though. For those who are really hungry, there's a  more substantial version called iscas com elas and elas or "the bait and the girls and the girls," which means that the plate not only includes the strips of liver (the bait) and the fried onion rings (the girls), but also boiled potatoes (the other girls).

Next post, we'll publish À Lisboeta's recipe for iscas com elas.