Frit Mallorquí de Matances

Frit mallorquí de matances is Mallorca’s slaughter-day fry-up: fresh pork liver, lean pork and belly with fried potatoes, peppers, spring onion, garlic, bay and wild fennel. This is the pork-season frit, distinct from frit de freixura, its relative made with lamb offal. The scent of fonoll, fennel, and the mixture of meat, liver and crisp-edged potato make it unmistakably Mallorcan.

The method that decides it is simple: fry each part separately, then bring everything together for only a few minutes. Potatoes, peppers, lean pork and liver all release different amounts of water and need different cooking times. Crowd them into the pan together and the potatoes soften while the liver turns hard. Give each ingredient its turn and you get browned meat, tender liver and potatoes that still hold their edges.

Ask a butcher for fresh pork liver and use pork shoulder for the magre, the lean meat named in Mallorcan recipes. If pork liver truly can’t be found, lamb liver is the honest fallback, though it tastes darker and takes the dish away from matances. Cubanelle peppers stand in well for pale green Spanish frying peppers. For wild fennel, use the feathery tops from a fennel bulb; they’re gentler, so use the full measured amount. No hace falta haber pisado España.

Serve the frit as soon as the final toss is done, when the potatoes have taken on the seasoned oil but haven’t lost their edges. The Margin beside mine says only: fry apart, finish together. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.