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Boiled Calf's Feet
Bone two calf's feet as far as the first joint and soak in warm water two hours. Now put into a stewpan two slices of bacon, two tablespoons of butter, two of lemon juice, some salt and whole pepper, one onion, one bunch of savory herbs, four cloves and one blade of mace; lay the feet in and add just enough water to cover. Stew gently for about three hours, remove the feet, and serve them covered with parsley and butter. The stock from the feet should be strained and reserved for use. It will prove a good addition to gravies, etc.
A gentle braise of a cut most butchers now sell only by request. The method is sound; the main adjustments are sourcing and knowing what to do with the very gelatinous stock it leaves behind.
- Sourcing the feetCalf's feet are rarely on display but can usually be ordered from a halal, kosher or Latin American butcher, often split lengthwise already. Two feet is roughly 3-4 lb of bone and skin and will yield a modest amount of meat plus a great deal of gelatin. Pig's trotters behave similarly if veal is unavailable.
- "Bone as far as the first joint"This means removing the long bones of the upper foot while leaving the toe joints intact, so the trotter holds together during the long stew. A butcher will do it; otherwise leave them whole and simply cook a little longer.
- Soaking and blanchingThe two-hour warm soak draws out blood. Modern practice adds a step the book omits: cover the feet with cold water, bring to a boil for five minutes, drain and rinse away the grey scum. The finished stock will be far clearer.
- A bunch of savory herbsIn this period that means a bundle of parsley stalks, thyme and a bay leaf, tied with string. Not the herb summer savory specifically, though a sprig does no harm.
- Blade of maceMace is the lacy aril of the nutmeg; a "blade" is one dried piece. Substitute a scant quarter-teaspoon of ground mace, or grate a little nutmeg.
- Stew gentlyThe hinge of the dish. Hold the liquid at a bare tremble, around 180-190F, for the full three hours. A rolling boil emulsifies the fat into the stock and turns it cloudy and greasy, and it shreds the skin instead of leaving it silky.
- Parsley and butterA nineteenth-century standby: melted butter with a handful of chopped parsley, poured over at the table. Note that period 'melted butter' was often itself a flour-thickened sauce, so the dressing may have been made either way.
- The reserved stockStrain it, chill it, and lift off the fat cap. It will set to a firm, sliceable jelly -- that is the point of calf's feet. Use it to give body to gravies, or melt and clarify it as the base for an aspic.
- YieldTwo feet serve two as a main course or four as a first course. Serve hot; the gelatin stiffens quickly as it cools, so warm the plates.
Calf's foot earned its place in the household books not for its flavour, which is mild, but for its gelatin. Before commercial powdered gelatine became cheap and reliable in the late nineteenth century, a cook who wanted jelly, aspic or a glossy glaze boiled feet to get it, and calf's-foot jelly was for generations the standard invalid food -- nourishing, easily swallowed, and endlessly recommended by doctors and household writers alike. That The Butterick Cook Book (1911) still gives the foot as a dish in its own right, dressed simply with parsley and butter, shows a kitchen economy in which nothing from the animal went unused and the stock was as much the object as the meat. The instruction to strain and reserve the liquor is not an afterthought; it is arguably the real recipe.