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Veal, Roast, Breast of
INGREDIENTS.-Veal; a little flour. AVERAGE COST, 8d. per lb.
Wash the veal, well wipe it, and dredge it with flour; put it down to a bright fire, not too near, as it should not be scorched.
Baste it plentifully until done; dish it, pour over the meat some good melted butter, and send to table with a piece of boiled bacon and a cut lemon.
TIME. From 1 to 2 hours.
SEASONABLE from March to October.
Veal, Breast of, to Carve._ The carving of a breast of veal is not dissimilar to that of a fore-quarter of lamb, when the shoulder has been taken off. The breast of veal consists of two parts-the rib-bones and the gristly brisket.
These two parts should first be separated by sharply passing the knife in the direction of the lines A, B, when they are entirely VEAL À LA BOURGEOISE. divided, the rib-bones should be carved in the direction of the lines E to F; and the brisket can be helped by cutting pieces in the direction C to D. The carver should ask the guests whether they have a preference for the brisket or ribs; and if there be a BREAST OF VEAL.
B sweetbread served with the dish, as it often is with roast breast of veal, each person should receive a piece.
This is a spit-roast written for an open fire, with the meat hung before the coals and turned rather than enclosed in an oven. Nearly all the adaptation lies in translating that to a modern oven and in recognising that breast of veal is a tough, gristly, well-marbled cut that rewards slow heat.
- "Put it down to a bright fire, not too near"The hinge of the whole method: radiant heat at a distance, so the surface browns while the interior cooks gently. In an oven a moderate heat of around 325°F, on a rack over a shallow tray with the fat side up so it self-bastes, is a reasonable stand-in; the original gives no temperature.
- Time and donenessOne to two hours reflects the size of the joint, not a target. A bone-in breast of 4-5 lb wants closer to 2½-3 hours at 325°F; the connective tissue between the ribs needs time to soften, and veal pulled at bare medium here is chewy rather than tender. Cook to at least 145°F and rest 15 minutes.
- "Melted butter"In Beeton this is a sauce, not a jug of butter: butter thickened with flour and liquid, usually water and sometimes milk. Pouring plain melted butter over the joint is not what is meant.
- Dredging with flourThe flour coat sets into a crust under a fierce fire and gives the basting something to cling to. In an oven it is largely cosmetic; a dry surface and a good initial 20 minutes at 425°F before dropping the heat does more for browning.
- Yield"For 3 persons" assumes a small piece or a course among several. A whole bone-in breast of veal is 4-6 lb and will serve six to eight as a main; buy roughly 12 oz bone-in per person.
- The sweetbreadVeal sweetbreads were often tucked into or served alongside the breast. They are a special order from a butcher now, and require soaking, blanching and peeling before cooking — they cannot simply be roasted with the joint.
- The accompanimentsBoiled bacon and a cut lemon are not decoration. Veal is lean and mild; the salt and the acid are the seasoning of the dish, and the recipe carries almost none otherwise. Salt the joint yourself before roasting.
- Cost and season8d. per lb is mid-Victorian pricing and tells you only that this was among the cheaper joints. "Seasonable March to October" belongs to a world of spring-born calves; veal is available year round now.
Breast of veal was the economical end of the calf — bony, gristly, cheap by the pound — and it appears in Beeton alongside far grander veal dishes precisely because the book was written for households working to a budget and often noted, entry by entry, what a thing cost. The pairing with bacon and lemon here is the standard Victorian treatment. The carving note that follows, with its lettered diagram, is characteristic of the household manuals of the period: joints came to table whole and the master or mistress of the house was expected to dismember them competently in front of guests, which is why Beeton devotes as much space to the knife as to the fire.