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Veal Cutlets, Broiled, Plain
Divide the best end of a neck of veal into neat cutlets, allowing one bone to each. Trim these neatly, cut away the chine-bone, shorten the rib-bones, and flatten the cutlets with a cutlet-bat. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides, brush them over lightly with oil, and broil on a gridiron over a clear slow fire till they are nicely browned on both sides. Serve on a hot dish, with a few slices of ham or bacon on a separate dish. Good brown gravy, or tomato or any piquant sauce, may be sent to table with veal cutlets. Time to broil the cutlets, ten to fifteen minutes, according to thickness. Probable cost, 1s. per pound.
A straightforward gridiron recipe that depends almost entirely on butchery and fire management. The whole point is a cutlet of even thickness cooked over steady, moderate heat rather than a fierce blaze.
- What to buyThe "best end of neck" is the rib section, sold today as veal rib chops. Ask for them cut one bone thick, about 3/4 to 1 inch; a butcher will remove the chine-bone (the spinal section) and french the rib for you.
- The cutlet-batA flat wooden or metal pounder. The flat side of a meat mallet, a small heavy pan or a rolling pin does the same work. Flatten to an even thickness rather than thin — evenness is what makes the stated timing work.
- "A clear slow fire"Charcoal burned down to grey ash with no flame, or a gas grill at a moderate setting rather than high. Veal has little fat and scorches before it cooks through over high heat; "clear" means a fire burning cleanly, without smoke or flare-up to taint the meat.
- DonenessTen to fifteen minutes suits a chop of an inch or more. A modern 3/4-inch chop will be done in 8-10 minutes total, turning once. Cook to 145F in the thickest part, clear of the bone, and rest 3 minutes; veal driven past that dries out quickly.
- The oilA light brushing only, on the meat rather than the grill. Puddled oil dripping onto coals produces the flare-ups the recipe's "clear" fire is meant to avoid.
- The ham or baconThe recipe sends it to table on its own dish; the cured meat supplies the fat that lean veal lacks. Broil or fry a few thin slices and serve them alongside.
- YieldOne bone per cutlet, one or two cutlets per person depending on the size of the rib. The recipe offers gravy or a piquant tomato sauce as an option, and plain broiled veal is lean enough to want it.
- The price"1s. per pound" is a shilling, twelve old pence; the book routinely gives a "probable cost" for each dish.
Cassell's placed this among its plain broils, the baseline against which the book's dressed versions were meant to be measured. Veal was a staple of the Victorian middle-class table in a way it no longer is in Britain, a by-product of a dairy industry that produced far more calves than it needed, and the best end of neck was the affordable cut that still gave you a presentable bone to hold. The instruction to trim, shorten the rib and flatten with a bat reflects a period expectation that a cook could butcher as well as cook; "cutlet" itself comes through French côtelette, a little rib, and the neat single-bone shape it describes is the same one still called a French-trimmed chop.