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To Stew Sweetbreads
457. Take two large round sweetbreads, and stew them as you would veal (see page 133); then make a rich gravy with truffles, morels, mushrooms, or artichoke-bottoms, and serve it round. 458. SWEETBREADS, STEWED WHITE. - Carefully wash some sweetbreads, and stew them from half an hour to three-quarters in a white gravy; to which add cream, flour, butter, mace, salt, and white pepper, and a little cucumber ketchup. 459. SWEETBREADS, STEWED BROWN. - Stew as above in a brown gravy, after thoroughly scalding the sweetbreads.
Another Way.-Lard some sweetbreads, and after parboiling, cover them with egg-crumbs mixed with a little chopped parsley and marjoram, pepper and salt. Brown them in a Dutch oven, and stew them twenty minutes in a rich gravy, and flavour with ketchup.
Four short variations on the same preparation, written for cooks who already knew how to handle offal. The critical work happens before the stewing: sweetbreads must be soaked, blanched and pressed, or they will be soft, bloody and grey.
- Prepare them firstSoak the sweetbreads in several changes of cold water for a few hours until the water runs clear, then blanch in barely simmering salted water for 3-5 minutes, drop into ice water, and peel away the membrane and any gristle. Pressing them flat between two plates under a weight for an hour firms the texture; this is what "thoroughly scalding" in no. 459 is reaching for.
- Which sweetbread"Large round" points to the heart or kidney sweetbread, the plump, rounded gland (usually the pancreas), as opposed to the ragged, elongated throat sweetbread. Veal is the standard; expect to order from a butcher, and count roughly one whole sweetbread (about 8-10 oz) for two people.
- Stewing timeHalf an hour to three-quarters in gentle liquid suits properly blanched veal sweetbreads. They should be just firm and sliceable, not falling apart. Lamb sweetbreads are much smaller and want 10-15 minutes at most.
- White gravy and brown gravyWhite gravy here is a light veal or chicken stock finished with cream and a flour-and-butter thickening; brown gravy is the same stock reduced from browned bones. Add the cream and flour toward the end and keep the pan below a boil so the sauce does not break or catch.
- Cucumber ketchupA Victorian thin pickling liquor of salted cucumbers, onion and spice, not a thick sauce. A tablespoon of the brine from cornichons, or a little cucumber pickle liquid, gives the same sharp vegetal note.
- Egg-crumbsThis means brushing with beaten egg and then coating in fine breadcrumbs mixed with the herbs and seasoning. Chill the coated sweetbreads 20 minutes so the crust sets before browning.
- Dutch ovenIn books of this period a Dutch oven is usually the tin reflector set on the hearth to brown food in front of an open fire rather than a cast-iron pot, though this page does not define the term. Brown the crumbed sweetbreads in a hot pan in clarified butter, or under a grill, before the 20-minute stew.
- Truffles, morels, artichoke-bottomsDried morels rehydrated in warm water work well and their soaking liquid enriches the gravy; strain it to leave the grit behind. Artichoke bottoms are the trimmed bases, available jarred or frozen. Truffle is optional in a way it was not for the original reader.
- LardingThreading strips of pork fat through the meat with a larding needle. A modern substitute is to wrap each sweetbread in a thin slice of unsmoked bacon or caul fat before crumbing.