Iscas — Portugal

Iscas is a Portuguese dish of thin liver slices, usually pork liver, marinated in white wine with garlic and bay leaf, then quickly fried and served with fried potatoes. It belongs to the wider category of Portuguese offal dishes built around a simple wine-and-garlic marinade. The dish is reported from Portugal generally and is particularly linked to Lisbon, where a version known as iscas à moda de Lisboa is well known; similar marinated liver preparations appear in other regions of the country under local names, each with its own choice of wine and aromatics. To prepare it, thin slices of liver are trimmed of membranes and left to marinate for a couple of hours in white wine with crushed garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper, which softens the flavor and tenderizes the meat. The liver is then drained, seared briefly in hot lard or oil on both sides so it stays tender inside, and the reserved marinade is poured in to bubble for a few minutes and form a light pan sauce. Potatoes are peeled, cut, and fried separately until golden. What distinguishes this version from other liver preparations is the wine-and-garlic marinade itself, which is central to the dish rather than an optional seasoning, and the quick, high-heat searing that keeps the liver from turning tough or dry. The type of wine, the length of marinating, and whether onion is added alongside the garlic vary between households, but the pairing of marinated fried liver with fried potatoes remains constant.