What it is
A winter pig-slaughter dish of pork liver wrapped in fatty caul membrane with bay leaf, then roasted over embers.
Origin place card
The page belongs to Avellino and the Campano-Lucano Apennine, where the home pig-killing season made liver and caul fat immediate foods of fire.
Verified history
The source ties the dish to the traditional household killing of the pig, celebrated between December and February, and to the use of the rete/rezza membrane. Treat this as source-supported tradition/history from Regione Campania PAT — Fegato con la zeppa; The current evidence does not independently establish a founder, precise origin date, first attestation, monastery, saint, or archival origin story.
Local hypothesis
Its logic is immediate: the fresh liver must be eaten; the caul both protects and perfumes it; the bay leaf gives winter fat a clean aromatic edge. Source-supported detail: Once prepared, these roulades are roasted on the hot coals, the meat will impregnate with the flavour of the rezza and the bay leave acquiring an aromatic and peculiar flavour.
Local legend / oral tradition
The Latin retia explanation for rezza is a lexical note to label as etymological tradition unless further lexicographic proof is added.
Ingredients
Pork liver slices, caul membrane/rezza/zeppa, bay leaf; sometimes salt and local seasoning in household versions to be documented. Source-supported detail: Una volta preparati, questi involtini vengono fatti arrostire sulla brace, in modo tale che il calore faccia impregnare la carne del gusto della rezza e del sapore del lauro, assumendo un sapore particolare e decisamente aromatico.
Method
Wrap slices of liver in the fatty reticulated membrane with a bay leaf, then roast over hot embers so the caul bastes the liver as it cooks. Source-supported detail: La "rezza", non è altro che la membrana del maiale, il cui nome deriva direttamente dal latino, retia, "rete", nome che gli è stato dato per la sua struttura reticolare.
Ritual / calendar
December–February pig-killing season is explicitly documented, with household festivity around the slaughter. Source-supported detail: La rezza è caratterizzata dall'abbondante presenza di grasso, che la rende particolarmente gustosa, motivo per il quale la si utilizza per avvolgere le fettine di fegato insieme a una foglia di alloro.
Why travel for it
This is not polite restaurant food; it is a reason to understand the winter farmhouse calendar of inland Avellino.
Recreate-it pathway
Recipe recovery must include food-safety handling and exact roasting time from active local cooks.
Editorial warning
Mark it as a slaughter-day food. Do not detach it from winter, the pig, or the household ritual that gives it meaning.
Fieldwork questions
Which communities still call it zeppa versus rezza? Is it sold by butchers or only made at home?
Photo brief
Liver wrapped in caul with bay before roasting; ember/grill shot with fat beginning to render.