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Roast Pork
evenly with white of egg well beaten, using an egg-brush, and then dipping them in finely-powdered stale bread-crumb. They should be fried a delicate brown, and carefully drained from the fat. For gravy, some other meat must be had recourse to, as there is too little from veal in the frying-pan to make it of. The bone taken out of the fillet with part of the knuckle will boil down and make good stock, browning it in the usual way (see Gravies), and flavouring with a little mushroom ketchup and Worcestershire sauce; adding also a sprig of lemon thyme and a blade of mace. Some fresh parsley should be fried quite crisp after the cutlets are done, and laid on the top; and it is usual to fry with them some thin slices of ham or bacon rolled, which are put round the dish, the gravy being poured into it, but not over the cutlets.
What survives here is the finishing of breaded veal cutlets: the crumbing, the frying, and the gravy made separately because the pan yields almost nothing. The instructions still work as written once a few Victorian shorthand terms are decoded.
- The gravy is the pointVeal is lean and pale, so a frying pan of cutlets leaves you no fond and no drippings worth deglazing. Starting the bone-and-knuckle stock before the cutlets is the difference between a finished dish and dry breaded meat.
- Egg-brushA soft bristle brush for painting beaten egg white onto meat. A pastry brush does the same job; the aim is a thin even film rather than a dip, so the crumb coat stays fine and does not clump.
- Stale bread-crumbDry crumbs from day-old bread, sieved fine: not fresh soft crumbs, not panko. The recipe specifies "finely-powdered stale bread-crumb," i.e. a fine dry coating rather than a coarse one.
- "A delicate brown"The fat should be hot enough to colour the crumb without scorching it; too fierce and the fine crumb darkens before the veal is cooked through. The recipe gives no temperature or timing, so judge by colour, as it directs.
- Mushroom ketchupA thin, dark, salty mushroom extract, not a tomato product. Bottled versions are still sold; a spoonful of soy plus a little mushroom soaking liquor gives a comparable savoury depth if you cannot find it.
- Blade of maceA piece of the dried aril, the lacy outer covering of the nutmeg seed; it is lifted out before serving. Roughly a quarter-teaspoon of ground mace is a rough substitute, though quantities vary with the size of the blade.
- Fried parsleyWhole dry sprigs, dropped into the fat for ten to fifteen seconds until they stop hissing and turn brilliant green. They must be thoroughly dry or the fat will spit hard.
- Rolled ham or baconThin slices rolled into cylinders and fried; secure with a cocktail stick and remove before serving. They go round the dish as a garnish, not under the cutlets.
- ServingPour the gravy into the dish, never over the cutlets — the whole purpose of the egg-and-crumb coat is that it stays crisp on the plate.