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Crostini are thin slices of toasted bread, spread with a paté of one sort or another, and are a standard Tuscan antipasto. The most common paté is made with chicken livers, but here Artusi adds anchovies, which bring not fishiness, but the bracing freshness of the sea. In short, a nice touch. His recipe is very simple.

Combining anchovies and chicken livers to make a pate isn't as odd as one might think. Indeed, the two work quite nicely in this simple antipasto.

Cibreo is an old, old dish, made from the parts of the chicken that don't get used elsewhere -- the cock's combs, livers, gonads and so on, delicately stewed, and though a person born into the modern times of plenty might recoil at the idea, the dish is amazingly refined, and in the past was eagerly sought out by even the wealthiest.

A rich winter recipe for beef tongue; the pickles are a bit unusual for Italy, and are optional. But they are a nice touch.

Busecca, or Milanese Tripe Soup: A hearty winter soup that will keep the cold outside.

No festive Tuscan meal would be complete without chicken liver crostini, thin slices of toasted bread spread with a tasty chicken liver pate that even makes converts out of liver haters.

Cibreo is an old, old Florentine stew made with the less noble parts of the chicken -- cocks combs, wattles, gizzards, liver, gonads and so on, and while it might make some modern readers recoil one has to remember that in the past food -- all food -- was too precious to be thrown away, and in the hands of a good cook these ingredients can do terrific things. Indeed, Cibreo is said to have been a favorite dish of Caterina de'Medici.

Crockpot chicken livers are fried then slow cooked with a savory sauce.

Crostini are thin slices of toasted bread, spread with a paté of one sort or another, and are a standard Tuscan antipasto. The most common paté is made with chicken livers, but in Siena they also add spleen, which adds a nice touch. This recipe is drawn from Salani's Re Dei Cuochi, published anonymously in 1885.

This recipe for Czech liver dumplings or jatrove knedlicky is made with finely ground calf's liver.