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Veal Broth
232. Stew a small knuckle in about three quarts of water, with two ounces of well-washed rice, or, what is still better, the same quantity of sago thoroughly washed, a little salt, and a blade of mace, till the liquor is half wasted away.
A plain invalid's broth of the sort Victorian kitchens kept on hand: veal shank, water, a starch to give body, and almost nothing else. The whole method is in the last clause — reduce by half, slowly.
- The knuckleA "small knuckle" of veal is the lower shank or hock, bone in, roughly 2 to 3 lb. Ask a butcher for veal shank cut crosswise; the gelatine in the joint is what makes the broth set to a light jelly when cold.
- Three quartsIf these are imperial quarts, that is about 3.4 litres, roughly 14 to 15 US cups of water. Reducing by half leaves around 7 cups of finished broth, enough for four to six servings as a first course or several small invalid portions.
- Heat, not boilStew means a bare tremble at the surface, around 180-190F. A rolling boil emulsifies the fat and clouds the broth, and this recipe has no clarifying step to rescue it. Reckon on 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours to lose half the liquid at that heat.
- SagoSago is starch from the pith of the sago palm, sold as small pearls in Asian and South Asian groceries. It thickens more smoothly than rice and dissolves into near-invisibility; the author says only that it is "still better," without giving a reason. Tapioca pearls behave much the same way; two ounces is about 1/3 cup.
- Rice, if you use itTwo ounces of rice is a scant 1/3 cup. Long grain holds its shape; pudding or short grain rice will break down and give a thicker, more porridge-like broth.
- Blade of maceA blade is one piece of the dried outer casing of the nutmeg, not ground mace. If you only have ground, use a pinch — perhaps 1/8 teaspoon — and add it late, since ground spice can turn harsh over a long simmer. Fish the blade out before serving.
- Skim, and skim againVeal throws a great deal of grey scum in the first twenty minutes. Take it off with a spoon before the starch goes in, or it will be trapped in the thickened liquid. Chill the finished broth and lift the fat cap if you want it clear.
- SeasoningThe recipe asks only for "a little salt." Season properly at the end, after reduction has concentrated everything; salting to taste at the start will leave it harsh.
Veal broth belongs to the nineteenth-century category of "cookery for invalids" — light, unspiced, gelatinous liquids given to the ill, the elderly and the newly delivered, and often placed in a separate chapter of the household book. Veal was a common meat for it: mild-flavoured, and its joints yield gelatine readily, so the cooled broth sets and was thought both nourishing and easy on the stomach. Sago and its cousins arrowroot and tapioca appear frequently in this literature; imported through the colonial trade and relatively cheap by mid-century, they were valued for being bland and for thickening without butter or flour. The sparse seasoning fits that pattern, a single blade of mace being about as much flavour as sickroom cookery of the period allowed.