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To Roll Beef Palates
378. Boil five or six palates gently, till you can peel and trim them; what you cut away should be stewed with a little of the liquor, seasoned with a glass of white wine, and thickened with flour and butter till the gravy is good. Cover the outside of the palates with yolk of egg, and then with a well-seasoned forcemeat. Roll the palates up, and tie them tightly with a string or tape; lay them in a stewpan, with a little butter, and a quarter of a pint of milk or cream, and simmer gently for two hours. Lay the stewed trimmings upon a dish, squeeze the juice of half a lemon over it, and then lay on the rolled palates; pour over it the mixed gravy from both stewpans, and garnish with mushroom pickle, forcemeat, and egg balls.
Beef palates — the hard palate from the roof of a bullock's mouth — were a standard entrée ingredient in nineteenth-century England and are now a special-order item from a butcher who breaks whole heads. The recipe assumes several kitchen conventions that need spelling out.
- The hinge: peel them properly"Boil gently till you can peel and trim them" is the whole difficulty. Palates need a long spell at a bare simmer, often several hours, before the rough grey outer skin will rub off; if it resists, they are not done. Any skin left behind stays leathery no matter how long the second cooking runs.
- SourcingBeef palates are not a retail cut. Ask a halal or Caribbean butcher, or one who buys whole heads, and expect to order ahead. Five or six palates is a large quantity by modern standards — probably enough for six to eight as a course.
- A quarter of a pintAn imperial pint is 20 fl oz, so a quarter pint is 5 fl oz, a generous half cup. With only that much liquid and a lid, the two-hour simmer must be genuinely gentle or the pan will dry out.
- ForcemeatA Victorian forcemeat here means a stiff stuffing of breadcrumbs, chopped suet or butter, minced ham or veal, herbs, lemon peel, mace and egg to bind — worked firm enough to spread and hold when rolled. Modern sausagemeat with herbs and lemon zest does the same job.
- Egg ballsThe garnish, are hard-boiled yolks pounded with a little raw yolk and flour, rolled into marbles and poached or fried. They were a stock nineteenth-century garnish for stews and turtle soup.
- Mushroom pickleSmall button mushrooms pickled in spiced vinegar, sold by the bottle at the time. Pickled mushrooms from a jar are the nearest thing; mushroom ketchup is a different, thinner preparation and will loosen the sauce.
- Thickening the trimmings"Thickened with flour and butter" means beurre manié — equal weights kneaded raw and whisked into the simmering liquor in small pieces, not a cooked roux. Let it boil a minute or two to lose the raw flour taste.
- Tying and untyingTape holds better than string on a slippery rolled palate and leaves no cutting marks. Remove it before the rolls go on the dish; the recipe does not say so, but the finished plate depends on it.