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Veal Cutlets Without Bone
Properly speaking, these cutlets ought to be made from the fleshy part of the neck, which has been taken out whole so as to form a sausage-shaped roll, and then cut into slices the third of an inch thick. Those who object to this may use a cutlet taken from the fillet instead. Divide the meat into neat slices. Brush them over with egg, sprinkle finely-grated and savoury bread-crumbs upon them, or, if preferred, omit the egg and bread-crumbs, and simply dredge flour upon them, and fry them in butter or lard till they are lightly browned on both sides. Toast separately as many slices of bacon as there are cutlets. Arrange the cutlets and the bacon alternately in a circle round a hot dish, and pour into the centre a sauce prepared as follows. Put a quarter of a pint of brown sauce into a saucepan. Let it boil, then stir into it a table-spoonful of ketchup, a glassful of sherry or Madeira, the strained juice of half a lemon, and a pinch of grated nutmeg. Stir the sauce over the fire for a minute, and it will be ready for serving. When brown thickening is not at hand, a little may be made by kneading together equal proportions of butter and flour, then stirring the paste quickly over a slow fire for three minutes, and moistening it with stock. If preferred, good brown mushroom sauce may be used instead. Time to fry the cutlets, about a quarter of an hour. Probable cost, 1s. to 1s. 2d. per pound.
A Victorian escalope: boneless veal slices, breaded or floured, fried, and ringed around a sharp wine-and-ketchup gravy. Two things need attention — the frying time and the word "ketchup".
- The cutThe "fleshy part of the neck taken out whole" is the boned-out neck fillet, still sold by butchers as veal neck fillet; "the fillet" here means the leg fillet, the usual escalope cut. Any boneless veal sliced a third of an inch (8 mm) works, and pork loin substitutes closely if veal is not to hand.
- Fifteen minutes is far too long"Time to fry the cutlets, about a quarter of an hour" reads as a generous allowance rather than a time for slices this thin. Slices 8 mm thick need roughly 2–3 minutes a side in hot butter; held longer they tighten and dry, which is exactly what veal is prone to.
- Ketchup means mushroom or walnutIn a British kitchen of this date ketchup is a thin, dark, salty mushroom or walnut condiment, closer to a light soy or Worcestershire in effect. Tomato ketchup will make the sauce sweet and cloudy; use mushroom ketchup, or Worcestershire sauce in slightly smaller quantity.
- QuantitiesA quarter of a pint of brown sauce is 5 fl oz, about two-thirds of a US cup. "A glassful" of sherry or Madeira is genuinely imprecise — a Victorian wineglassful was usually reckoned at about 2 fl oz, sometimes a little more, so start low and taste, since the sauce base is small and the wine is not cooked down for long.
- "Savoury bread-crumbs"Dry white crumbs seasoned with salt and pepper, and often grated lemon peel and chopped herbs such as parsley or thyme; the recipe leaves the mixture to the cook. Not a commercial product; mix them yourself.
- Brown thickeningThe fallback described is a brown roux: equal butter and flour cooked together, here only three minutes over a slow fire, which gives a pale-blond thickener rather than a dark one. For a properly brown sauce cook the roux until it smells nutty and takes colour before adding stock.
- Toasted bacon"Toast" means grill or broil the rashers until crisp and flat, done separately so they stay dry. Streaky rashers curl less if pressed; they are structural here, alternating with the cutlets to hold the ring shape.
- Yield and servingReckon two slices per person, so about eight cutlets for four. The sauce quantity given is small and dressy — poured into the centre of the ring rather than over the meat, which keeps the crumb coating crisp. Double it if you want gravy on the plate.
The qualifier "without bone" is the whole point of the title: in nineteenth-century British usage a cutlet was usually a rib chop with the bone trimmed and left as a handle, so a boneless version needed announcing. Cassell's was compiled in the 1870s and reissued for decades afterwards for middle-class households, and here it gives the boned neck first with the leg fillet allowed for "those who object". The cluster of mushroom and walnut ketchups, sherry, lemon and nutmeg is a familiar Victorian treatment for a mild meat: bottled seasonings doing work that a long-reduced stock would do in a professional kitchen. The circular arrangement of cutlets alternating with bacon around a central pool of sauce is a presentation sometimes described as en couronne.