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Fricandeau of Veal
441. Cut a large piece from the fat side of the leg, about nine inches long, and half as thick and broad; beat it with the rolling-pin; take off the skin, and trim off the rough edges. Lard the top and sides, and cover it with fat bacon, and then with white paper. Lay it in the stewpan with pieces of undressed veal or mutton, four onions, a carrot sliced, a fagot of sweet herbs, four blades of mace, four bay-leaves, a pint of good veal or mutton broth, and four or five ounces of lean ham or gammon. Cover the pan close, and let it stew slowly three hours; then take up the meat, remove all the fat from the gravy, and boil it quick to a glaze. Keep the fricandeau quite hot, and then glaze it; and serve with the remainder of the glaze in the dish, and sorrel sauce in a sauce-tureen.
A Cheaper, but equally good Fricandeau of Veal. - With a sharp knife cut the lean part off a large neck from the best end, scooping it from the bones in lengths about that of the hand, and prepare it the same way as in the last receipt; three or four bones only will be necessary, and they will make the gravy; but if the prime part of the leg is cut off, it spoils the whole.
A classic braise: a thick slab of veal larded with fat, cooked slowly in an aromatic broth, then coated in the reduced cooking liquid. The whole point is the glaze, so guard the liquid.
- The cut"The fat side of the leg" is the cushion, the thick muscle of the leg, sometimes sold as veal top round. The second version uses the eye of meat lifted off a neck (rack) end, which any butcher can bone out for you.
- Larding, if you canLarding needles are specialist tools now. Strips of chilled fatback or thick unsmoked bacon threaded through the meat serve the original purpose of keeping a lean cut moist; barding the top with sheets of fat under the paper does most of the same work if you cannot lard.
- The paperPlain parchment, not modern greaseproof-and-plastic wraps. It sits over the bacon to stop the top browning while the meat stews.
- MeasuresA pint of broth here is the imperial 20 fl oz, so use 2.5 US cups. Four or five ounces of lean ham or gammon means uncooked cured ham, not the pink boiled sort; prosciutto ends or a piece of unsmoked bacon work.
- Fagot of sweet herbsA bouquet garni: parsley stalks, thyme and a bay leaf tied with string. The recipe then adds four more bay leaves and four blades of mace, which is assertive by current taste; two of each is closer to modern seasoning.
- Heat"Stew slowly" means the barest simmer in a tightly covered pan. The recipe uses a stewpan on the fire; if a low oven is easier to hold steady, a covered pot at 300-325F will do the same job. Three hours is right for this cut; the meat should be sliceable, not falling apart.
- The glazeStrain the liquid, skim the fat thoroughly, then reduce hard until it is syrupy and coats a spoon. Do not salt before reducing, since a pint boiled down to a few spoonfuls concentrates everything. Brush it over the hot meat in layers.
- Sorrel sauceSorrel is seasonal and rarely stocked; its sharpness cuts the richness of the glaze. Failing sorrel, a tart spinach purée finished with lemon is the usual substitute.
- YieldCarved across the grain in thin slices, a fricandeau of this size serves six or more.
Fricandeau came into English cookery from the French, and English writers kept the French word for the technique: a solid piece of veal larded with fat, braised on a bed of trimmings and aromatics, then finished with its own liquid boiled down to a glaze. The pairing with sorrel is also French, sorrel's acidity being a standard counterweight to larded veal. The second, cheaper version is characteristic of this kind of book, which offered a genteel dish twice, once for a household that could sacrifice a leg of veal and once for one that could not.