Broiled Sweetbreads with Tomato Sauce

The recipe assumes you already know the standard preparation of sweetbreads, which is where all the work lies. Everything after that is a five-minute job.

• "Parboiling and blanching"In this period the sequence means: soak the sweetbreads in several changes of cold water for an hour or two until they whiten, simmer them 15-20 minutes in salted acidulated water, then plunge them into ice water. Once cold, peel away the outer membrane and any tubes, press between two plates under a light weight, and they are firm enough to crumb and cook.
• What to buyVeal sweetbreads are glands of a calf, sold as the heart or stomach sweetbread (round, the pancreas) and the throat sweetbread (elongated, the thymus); the round is generally reckoned the better one. They are a special order at most butchers. Allow a pair, roughly 1 lb before trimming, for two people.
• "Broil over hot coals"This is grilling, not the overhead broiler of a modern oven. On a charcoal or gas grill, a medium-hot bed and about 3 minutes a side is enough, since the meat is already cooked through and you are only browning the crust.
• If you use the oven broilerEgg-and-crumb coating scorches fast under a top element. Position the rack 5-6 inches down rather than at the top slot, and turn once. The sauté in butter, which the recipe offers as an alternative, is more reliable and gives a more even crust.
• The tomato sauceA plain cooked tomato sauce, smooth rather than chunky, thinned enough to pool. It is poured around the toast, not over it, so the crumb crust stays crisp; make it first and hold it hot.
• The toastCut the squares or rounds slightly smaller than the sweetbread portions and butter them while hot. Stale bread toasts drier and will not go soggy as quickly under the meat.
• TimingSweetbreads dry out and turn grainy if held. Have the sauce, the platter and the toast ready before the meat goes near the heat, and serve straight from the pan.