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Veal, Knuckle of, Stewed with Rice
Put a small knuckle of veal into a stewpan just large enough to contain it. If too large, so much water will be needed that the veal will be rendered insipid. Cover with stock or water, throw a tea-spoonful of salt into it, let the liquor boil, skim carefully, and simmer gently for three-quarters of an hour. Throw into it half a pound of well-washed rice, and let all stew gently together till the meat and the rice are tender. Half an hour before it is taken up, season the preparation with mace and cayenne, and add a little more salt if required. Send boiled bacon and parsley and butter to table with the veal. Time to stew the veal, two hours to two hours and a half--half an hour to the pound. Probable cost of the veal, 5d. to 7d. per pound.
A plain Victorian pot-stew built on a cheap gelatinous cut, and it still works, though the rice timing needs adjusting for modern grain.
- What a knuckle isThe knuckle is the lower leg of the calf, sold now as veal shank or shin, bone in. The recipe's own rule of half an hour to the pound, over two to two and a half hours, implies a joint of about 4-5 lb; ask for it whole rather than cut into osso buco rounds so it holds together through the long simmer.
- The pan mattersThe instruction about a snug stewpan is the hinge of the recipe. Excess water dilutes what little flavour a knuckle gives up, and there is no browning step to compensate. Use the smallest lidded pot the joint will sit in and cover it barely.
- Simmer, never boilSkim once the liquor first comes up, then hold it at a bare tremble. A rolling boil emulsifies the fat and shreds the collagen-rich meat off the bone before the rice is done.
- The riceHalf a pound is roughly 1 1/8 cups uncooked long-grain, which will drink a great deal of liquid and thicken the pot considerably. Period recipes generally allow rice much longer cooking than modern grain needs; modern long-grain needs 18-20 minutes, so add it near the end rather than at the 45-minute mark, and top up with hot stock as it swells.
- Mace and cayenneBlade mace is the lacy aril around the nutmeg seed; a whole blade or two fished out before serving is ideal, or about 1/4 teaspoon ground. Cayenne here is for warmth, not heat — a pinch.
- Parsley and butterNot a garnish but a sauce: a white or melted-butter sauce heavy with chopped parsley, a common Victorian accompaniment to boiled veal, bacon and white fish. The "boiled bacon" would be a piece of gammon or collar, often unsmoked, simmered separately and sliced.
- Total timeThe half-hour-per-pound rule gives the stated two to two and a half hours, which implies a joint of some four to five pounds and is about right for the meat to come loose from the bone. Judge by the meat, not the clock.
- YieldA 3-4 lb knuckle with half a pound of rice feeds four to six, particularly with bacon alongside.
Cassell's belongs to the great age of the British household dictionary, when a kitchen reference was expected to price its ingredients as well as cook them — hence the note of 5d. to 7d. per pound. The knuckle was among the cheapest parts of the calf, all bone, sinew and gelatine, and Victorian cookery leaned on it hard: it gave body to stock, set jellies without added gelatine, and stretched into dishes like this one where the rice does most of the feeding. Veal is often said to have been a by-product of the dairy herd rather than a luxury. The pairing with boiled bacon and parsley sauce is entirely of its period; pale boiled meats were often served with a salty cured meat for savour and a butter sauce for richness, since the cooking method supplied neither.