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Broiled Veal Cutlets, Caper Sauce
Trim and wipe with damp cloth 6 servings loin of veal cutlets, season with salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon salad oil, turning them several times. Broil slowly 5 minutes on each side. Serve on hot platter with caper sauce.
A bare-bones broiling instruction from a dinner-menu section that assumes the cook already knows how to make caper sauce. The only real variable is the thickness of the meat.
- What the cut is"Loin of veal cutlets" here means loin chops sliced from the saddle, not the thin pounded scallops sold today as veal cutlets. Ask for loin or rib chops about 3/4 to 1 inch thick; anything thinner than half an inch will be dry before it colours.
- Broil slowlyBroiler heat was often regulated by moving the rack rather than adjusting the flame. Setting the rack so the surface of the meat sits about 4 inches from a preheated element gives colour in roughly the stated time without scorching.
- Timing and donenessFive minutes a side suits a 3/4-inch chop. Veal is safest cooked to an internal 145F with a three-minute rest; check with a thermometer rather than trusting the clock, since broiler output varies more than oven output.
- The oilOne tablespoon of "salad oil" for six chops is a light film, not a marinade. Its job is to keep the lean surface from drying and to help the seasoning adhere; turning the chops several times in it is the whole of the preparation.
- Caper sauceThe book leaves this to the cook. A common version of the era is a white sauce or veal veloute finished with drained capers and a little of their vinegar; browned butter with capers and lemon is another. Have it ready before the meat goes under the heat.
- ServingThe recipe calls for enough cutlets for six servings. A hot platter matters more than usual here, since lean veal loses heat quickly and the sauce will thicken and dull on a cold dish.
Caper sauce with veal is a recurring pairing in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century menu writing, related to the older British habit of serving caper sauce with boiled mutton: the sharp pickled buds cut through mild or fatty meat. The instruction's brevity assumes a cook who already knows the sauce, so the element that gives the dish its name goes undescribed. Capers themselves are the unopened flower buds of Capparis spinosa, imported salted or in vinegar, and were among the shelf-stable Mediterranean goods an American pantry might keep on hand.