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Mutton Chops, Grilled
Shred some shallot or onion, and mince some savoury herbs; put these into a stewpan with a lump of butter. Have ready-trimmed chops from the loin of mutton, dip each one separately into the dissolved butter, and cover quickly with finely-prepared bread-crumbs, seasoned with pepper and salt. Broil on one side for three minutes, then turn on the other. The fire should be slow and even, that the bread-crumbs may not acquire too much colour; by turning them several times the cooking will be equalised. Serve hot, with a bit of plain butter on the top of each chop. Probable cost, 1s. per pound.
A straightforward crumbed chop, but the coating changes how it must be cooked: the heat has to be gentler than you would use for a bare chop, or the crumbs char before the meat is done.
- Broil means grill over coalsIn a British book of this date, to broil is to cook on a gridiron over an open fire, with the heat below. The nearest modern equivalents are an overhead grill set well away from the element, or a ridged pan over medium heat; the instruction that the fire be "slow and even" matters more than the method.
- The hinge: keep the heat moderateButtered breadcrumbs burn long before a thick chop is cooked through. Set the heat lower than instinct suggests and turn the chops several times, as the recipe says, rather than leaving them to sit on one face.
- Three minutes a side is a starting pointThat timing suits the thin, small loin chops of the period. A modern loin chop cut an inch or more thick needs longer, and turning every couple of minutes until the centre reaches about 145F for pink, 160F for well done.
- The butter is a coating, not a sauceThe shallot, herbs and butter in the stewpan are simply melted together so the chops can be dipped; there is no reduction or thickening. Use enough butter to coat, and season the crumbs rather than the butter as directed.
- Savoury herbsThe Victorian "sweet" or "savoury" herbs for mutton would typically have included parsley and thyme, sometimes with a little marjoram. Chop them fine so they adhere to the crumb rather than falling into the fire.
- Bread-crumbs"Finely-prepared" crumbs of this date were usually dried and sieved white crumbs rather than fresh soft ones, and certainly not packaged panko. Dry crumbs colour evenly and cling well to melted butter.
- TrimmingTrim the chops of all but a thin rim of fat and shorten the bone. Fat dripping into a fire flares and blackens the crumbs, which is the failure this recipe is built to avoid.
- Yield and costAllow one to two chops a person depending on size. The "probable cost, 1s. per pound" is a market price from the book's own period and has no bearing on what you will pay.
Cassell's belonged to the great age of British mutton, when sheep were kept to maturity and the meat was strong enough to carry onion, herbs and a crisp coating without being overwhelmed. Crumbing a chop before grilling was a standard trick of nineteenth-century cookery, often linked to the French treatment of cotelettes panees, and it did two jobs at once: it kept the surface of a lean chop from drying over a coal fire, and it gave a plain cut something of the finish of a made dish. The pat of plain butter set on top at the moment of serving belongs to the English habit of finishing grilled meat at table. What is now sold as lamb is generally slaughtered far younger than the mutton this recipe assumes, so the result will be milder and will cook faster.