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Veal Olives
552. Take eight or ten cutlets; wash them over with batter of eggs; TERRAPINS. then season, and lay over them a little forcemeat, roll them up, and tie them with thread, which is to be removed before serving, and fry them; then put them in a stewpan with some good gravy, an anchovy, pepper, and mace; make some balls, boil them a little, and put them in: thicken with flour and butter.
Another. Cut some cold veal and cold ham in thin square slices of the same size; lay a slice of veal on every slice of ham, and spread yolk of egg over the veal; lay on it a forcemeat of bread-crumbs, sweet marjoram rubbed fine, butter, grated lemon-peel, nutmeg, and cayenne; then roll up each slice tightly with the ham, tie them round with coarse thread; run a bird spit through them, and roast well. Serve with sauce made of gravy (282), a spoonful of cream, and mushroom ketchup.
Two versions of the same idea: thin veal wrapped round a savoury stuffing, one fried and stewed, one spitted and roasted. The hinge in both is thickness — the veal must be beaten out flat enough to roll without splitting.
- "Olives" means rollsNo olives are involved. The name is generally thought to derive from alow or olave, an old term for a rolled slice of meat; the modern equivalent is a veal roulade or paupiette.
- CutletsFor olives the veal needs to be thin, whatever the cut. Buy escalopes or slice veal loin and pound between two sheets of plastic to about 1/4 in. Eight or ten pieces serves four to five.
- "Batter of eggs"This is simply beaten whole egg brushed over the meat to make the forcemeat adhere. It is not a coating batter and needs no flour or milk.
- ForcemeatThe second version lists the ingredients without quantities: fresh breadcrumbs bound with softened butter, dried or fresh marjoram, grated lemon zest, nutmeg and cayenne. Roughly 3 oz crumbs to 2 oz butter works for ten rolls, and taste for salt, which the recipe omits.
- Tying and the spitUse cotton kitchen twine, not sewing thread, and cut it away before serving as instructed. In place of a bird spit, roast the tied rolls on a rack in a hot oven, about 425F, turning once, or brown them in a pan and finish at 375F until the veal reaches 145F.
- The anchovyOne salted anchovy fillet, or a teaspoon of anchovy paste, dissolved into the stewing gravy. It works as seasoning rather than flavouring — the finished sauce should not taste of fish.
- MaceBlade mace is the dried husk surrounding the nutmeg seed, usually described as more delicate and floral than ground nutmeg. Roughly a quarter teaspoon of ground mace can stand in for a blade.
- "Make some balls"Forcemeat balls, rolled from whatever stuffing is left over. Poach them in the gravy for a few minutes only; longer and they disintegrate.
- ThickeningFlour and butter here means beurre manié — equal weights kneaded cold, whisked into the simmering gravy in small pieces. About 1/2 oz of each thickens a pint.
- The cross-referenceThe roast version calls for "gravy (282)", a numbered sauce given elsewhere in the book and not reproduced here. A well-reduced brown stock, with the cream and a teaspoon of mushroom ketchup stirred in off the heat, is a reasonable stand-in.