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Lamb Chops, Broiled
Cut the chops about half an inch thick, trim them neatly, flatten them, remove the superfluous fat, place them on a hot gridiron over a clear fire, and let them remain until brightly browned on both sides, turning them with steak-tongs when required. Season them with pepper and salt, and serve as hot as possible. Garnish with parsley. Mashed potatoes, asparagus, green peas, or spinach are usually served with lamb chops. Time, eight or nine minutes to broil. Sufficient, half a dozen chops for two or three persons. Probable cost, 1s. per pound.
A plainly written broil that translates directly to a modern grill, ridged pan or hot broiler. The main adjustments are thickness, heat management and doneness.
- The gridironA gridiron is a grate set over live coals; the closest equivalents are a charcoal or gas grill, a heavy ridged cast-iron pan, or an overhead broiler with the rack near the element. Whichever you use, get it thoroughly preheated — a cool surface stews the meat instead of browning it.
- "A clear fire"This means coals burned down past flame to steady, ash-grey heat, with no smoke or flaring. Dripping lamb fat on open flame produces sooty flare-ups, which may be part of why the recipe calls for the "superfluous fat" to be removed.
- Thickness and timingHalf an inch is thin by current butchery habits, where loin and rib chops are often cut an inch or more. Eight or nine minutes suits the thin chop; a thick one needs closer to 10-12 minutes total over the same heat, and is better judged by an instant-read thermometer at 130-135F for pink.
- Do not flatten thick chopsFlattening makes sense for a thin cut that must cook through fast. On a modern thick-cut chop it just presses out juices — leave it alone and let the extra minutes do the work.
- Season before, not afterThe original seasons at the end. Salting the surface 20-40 minutes ahead gives better browning and seasons the meat rather than the plate; pepper can go on before or after as you like.
- Steak-tongsOrdinary kitchen tongs. The point of the instruction is not to use a fork — puncturing the crust drains the chop.
- Resting"Serve as hot as possible" was the Victorian ideal, but three or four minutes on a warm plate lets the juices settle and costs very little heat.
- Yield and costSix chops for two or three people is still about right for loin or rib chops. The "1s. per pound" is a late-Victorian retail price and is useful only as a period detail.
Cassell's gives broiled chops plainly: no sauce, no stuffing, nothing to hide behind. Broiling over a clear coal fire was much discussed in nineteenth-century English cookery writing -- Kitchiner among others treated it as a test of a cook's attention -- and a gridiron was common equipment in kitchens with a coal range. The vegetables listed -- mashed potato, asparagus, peas, spinach -- suit lamb as it was then eaten seasonally rather than year-round. The quoted shilling a pound suggests lamb chops were a respectable rather than a cheap dinner.