I have a friend who longs for the kind of calves liver she used to get when she lived in France and Italy but says she can't get anything acceptable here (here for her being Boston's south shore).

Decades ago when we lived in Boston we used to shop in the North End and got most of our meat from a wonderful Italian butcher named Cosimo, who has no doubt retired to "one place or another" by now. His shop was not too far from Polcari's, but we used to see many displays of young veal, rabbits, pork liver in caul fat, &c. along the way.

I've told my friend that we should check out the North end for good liver sometime, but I'm sure it has changed a lot. Does anyone have recommendations for a good traditional Italian butcher there?

Or anywhere else around Boston, for that matter?

Saluma Meat Market on Parmenter Street is quite good. It's been there at least 30 years, still going strong.

Thanks, Amy! I look forward to checking it out.

After I posted my query I started daydreaming about all the fascinating displays those shops used to have - the rabbits with strategic puffs of fur to prove they weren't cats, the tiny veal chops (from calves fed with mother's milk, not formula)curled around kidney sections which sparkled like jewels, the lacy caul fat wrappings and corrugated tripe... Sad in a way, but if you're going to eat the stuff you might as well appreciate every bit of it.