Pork Cutlets and Celery Sauce

Barely three lines, and it assumes you have two things Cassell's readers took for granted: a pot of meat glaze on the shelf and a separate celery sauce already made. Both are worth sorting out before you light anything.

• "Broil" means grillIn British usage of this period broiling is cooking directly over the fire on a gridiron, not under an overhead element. A charcoal grill, a ridged cast-iron pan or a gas grill all give the same result; a "clear fire" means coals burnt down past the flame stage so the fat does not flare and smoke the meat.
• Cutlet thicknessCutlets trimmed from the loin are what a butcher now sells as bone-in pork loin chops. Cut them a good inch thick — thinner chops will be dry long before fifteen minutes are up.
• Fifteen minutes is for the old fire, not your grillOver a moderate bed of coals a thick chop takes roughly 6-8 minutes a side. Work to temperature rather than the clock: 145F/63C at the thickest part, clear of the bone, then rest five minutes. Modern pork is safe at that point and stays juicy; "thoroughly cooked" to a Victorian cook meant grey through, which the leaner pigs of today will not forgive.
• GlazeGlaze here is brown stock reduced until it sets to a syrup and coats the back of a spoon — what is sold now as glace de viande. Brush it on warm just before serving; it is for gloss and savour, not a sauce.
• Celery sauceA common version of the era is stewed celery, softened in stock or milk, passed through a sieve and finished into a white sauce with cream and a little nutmeg. Two heads of celery make enough for four. Blending it smooth is quicker than sieving.
• Trimming the fatLeave a thin rim of fat on for flavour but score through it at intervals, or the chop will curl away from the grill and cook unevenly.
• YieldOne chop per person, four chops from a small loin end. Mashed or plain boiled potatoes suit it, since the sauce is the wet element.