Veal Cutlets (Cut from a leg of veal about) (II)

A plain instruction for pan-fried veal escalopes, written when a cook was expected to know the coating and the finish without being told. What survives is the cut, the thickness and the frying medium, and those are the parts that decide whether the dish works.

• The cutA third of an inch is about 8 mm, which is thicker than a modern scaloppine but thinner than a chop. Cutlets from the leg are what a butcher now sells as veal escalopes or leg steaks; ask for slices cut across the grain from the top round or knuckle.
• Beat them thin and evenLeg veal is lean and firms up fast, so any thick spot will still be raw when the thin edge is dry. Flatten between sheets of plastic to a uniform thickness before coating.
• "The French plan" versus "the English"The text pairs the French method with frying in plenty of hot fat and the English with turning the cutlets quickly; the rest is inference, since the recipe does not say how much fat the English way used. Either approach works.
• Lard or drippingBoth are still sold and both take the heat well. Clarified butter or a neutral oil with a knob of butter added near the end gives a similar result; whole butter alone will burn before the crumb sets.
• The coatingThe sentence breaks off before the coating is described. A flour, beaten egg and fine breadcrumb coating was common for fried cutlets of this kind; some versions worked lemon zest, parsley or mace into the crumbs. Press the crumbs on firmly and let the coated cutlets rest ten minutes so they hold in the pan.
• Heat and timingThe fat should be hot enough that a crumb sizzles at once, roughly 180C/350F. At this thickness two to three minutes a side is enough; leg veal turns dry and grainy well before it looks overcooked.
• YieldThe recipe leaves the size to the cook. Allow one cutlet per person, two if they are small. Lemon, bacon and a spoonful of pan gravy loosened with stock are common accompaniments for fried veal cutlets in books of this era.