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Mutton, Breast of, Boiled
Take out the bones, gristle, and some of the fat; flatten the joint on the pasteboard, and cover the surface thinly with a forcemeat composed of bread-crumbs, minced savoury herbs, a little chopped parsley, pepper, salt, and an egg, to bind. The forcemeat should not be spread too near the edge, and when rolled, the breast should be tied securely, to keep the forcemeat in its place. If gently boiled, and sent to table hot, and smothered with good caper sauce, it will be generally liked. Time, two hours to boil. Probable cost, 8d. per pound.
A rolled and stuffed breast of mutton, poached rather than roasted. The technique still works; the cut and the timing need translating.
- The cutBreast of mutton is the belly flap — fatty, thin, laced with cartilage. Butchers now sell it as lamb breast, usually boneless and rolled already. Ask for it flat and untrimmed, or use boned lamb shoulder if breast is unavailable.
- Boning and flatteningWork the knife along the rib bones and lift them out in one sheet, then pare away the thick cartilage at the narrow end. "Pasteboard" is simply a board; a damp cutting board and a rolling pin do the flattening.
- The forcemeatNo quantities are given. For a 2 lb breast, figure about 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons mixed parsley, thyme and marjoram, seasoning, and one egg. It should hold together when squeezed, not be wet.
- TyingThis is the hinge. Roll along the grain, then tie with butcher's twine at 1-inch intervals — a loose roll lets the stuffing leach out into the water and the joint collapses when carved.
- "Gently boiled"Means a bare simmer, water barely trembling, not a rolling boil, which shreds the outer layer. Two hours is right for a boned, rolled breast of this size; the meat should be fully tender, as the cut is too collagen-heavy to be served pink.
- The cooking liquidUse stock or salted water with an onion, carrot and bay. Plain unsalted water gives away the meat's flavour for nothing, and the liquid can be reduced afterwards.
- Caper sauceA white sauce — butter, flour, some of the cooking liquor and a little milk — finished with chopped capers and a splash of their vinegar. "Smothered" is not exaggeration; the sauce carries the dish and cuts the fat.
- YieldA 2 to 2 1/2 lb breast serves four, thickly sliced. Slice with a sharp knife, cutting through the twine positions and removing the string as you go.
Breast was the cheapest part of the sheep, and the price of 8d. a pound reflects that — this is a recipe for making an awkward, fatty cut respectable at a dinner table. Boning, stuffing and rolling was a common Victorian answer to a thin, bony joint, and boiling suited the cut better than roasting because the long moist heat renders the fat and softens the connective tissue rather than scorching it. The caper sauce belongs to an older English convention that paired boiled mutton with something sharp and briny; capers, imported pickled from the Mediterranean, seem to have been widely available in British kitchens by the mid-nineteenth century and are still the traditional accompaniment to a boiled leg of lamb.