Russian Fried Sweetbreads

A terse entry that assumes the cook already knows how sweetbreads are handled. The preparation the recipe skips is the part that decides whether the dish works.

• "Clean" is doing a lot of workIn period usage this means soak the sweetbreads in several changes of cold water for two to three hours, blanch them in acidulated water for about 15 minutes, then plunge them into cold water and peel away the membrane. Press them flat between two plates with a weight until cold before breading. A raw sweetbread breaded and fried will scorch outside and stay soft and bloody in the centre.
• What a sweetbread isA gland of a calf or lamb, sold as heart (or stomach) and throat sweetbreads; sources differ as to whether the heart sweetbread is a lobe of the thymus or the pancreas, the throat sweetbread being the thymus. Order from a butcher; supermarkets rarely carry them. Reckon 1 to 1 1/4 lb for four people, and use them within a day of purchase, as they spoil quickly.
• SlicingAfter pressing, split or slice the sweetbread into pieces about 1/2 inch thick so the crumb coating and the interior finish together.
• Frying fat and heatLard is authentic and takes the heat well; clarified butter or a neutral oil is fine. Shallow-fry at about 350-360F, two to three minutes a side, until the crumbs are deep gold. Hotter than that and the coating darkens before the piece is heated through.
• "Fry some eggs"Ordinary fried eggs, one per serving, cooked in butter and set around the sweetbreads on the platter. Here they stand in for a sauce on the plate.
• Tomato-sauceNot ketchup and not a long-simmered pasta sauce. The period sauce is tomatoes cooked down with onion, a little stock and butter, then sieved smooth and seasoned. A plain passata reduced with butter and salt gives the right effect.
• ServingFour portions. Bread and fry at the last moment; sweetbreads turn dense and greasy if held warm.