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KIDNEYS (a la Brochette)
Skin six sheep's kidneys, cut them open nearly in half so that they open book fashion; keep them in this position by skewering them with small skewers. Warm two ounces of butter till just oiled. Dip in the kidneys, lay them on a hot gridiron, and grill them for eight to ten minutes, turning them frequently. Serve on the hot buttered toast, sprinkling on each a little chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and a drop or two of lemon-juice. Serve them very hot. Sufficient for six persons. Probable cost, 1s. 11d.
A Victorian breakfast dish that survives essentially unchanged in bistro cooking. The one thing to change is the time.
- Cook less than it saysEight to ten minutes over live fire turns lamb kidneys grey, grainy and firm. Butterflied kidneys want 4 to 6 minutes total over high heat, turned once or twice, and should stay pink and faintly springy at the thickest part of the cut face.
- Sheep's kidneysSold today as lamb kidneys, usually from a butcher rather than a supermarket case, often still encased in a jacket of hard white suet. Peel the suet away, pull off the thin outer membrane, and snip out the pale gristly core at the hinge once the kidney is opened out.
- "Open book fashion"Cut from the rounded side almost through to the core, then press flat. Two small skewers pushed crosswise through each kidney hold it open and flat on the grill; wooden ones should be soaked, and a single long skewer will hold several at once.
- Butter "till just oiled"Melted until clear and liquid but not hot enough to foam or colour. Two ounces is about 4 tablespoons, plenty for coating six kidneys with some left for the toast.
- The gridironA metal grate set over coals. A very hot ridged grill pan, a charcoal grill, or an oven broiler with the pan close to the element all work; whatever you use, get it fully hot first so the kidneys sear rather than stew in their own juice.
- The toastThe recipe assumes it without ever telling you to make it: one slice of hot buttered toast per kidney, cut to roughly the size of the opened kidney, ready before the grilling starts.
- Soaking, if you want it milderNot in the original, but 20 to 30 minutes in cold milk or lightly salted water before grilling tempers the ammoniac edge that puts some eaters off offal. Dry thoroughly or the butter will not cling.
- Yield and costSix kidneys, one per person, as a breakfast dish or a small savoury course rather than a dinner main. "1s. 11d." is one shilling and elevenpence in pre-decimal money; the book routinely prints a "probable cost" alongside its recipes.
À la brochette simply means "on the skewer," and the skewers here are structural rather than decorative: they hold the split kidney flat so both cut faces meet the heat at once. Grilled kidneys belonged to the Victorian and Edwardian breakfast sideboard, alongside devilled bones, kedgeree and bacon, and to the savoury course that closed a formal dinner — a small, strongly flavoured mouthful served very hot. In this recipe the seasoning goes on at the table rather than before cooking. That kidneys were cheap enough for a household book to price by the shilling reflects a period when offal was everyday food rather than a specialist purchase.