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Roiled Breast of Lamb
This is a very delicious dish, but the broiling must be done carefully. The fire should not be too bright or the meat will soon scorch. Lay the inside of the meat toward the fire first and broil very moderately, turning the meat often. When done, butter slightly, and season with salt and pepper. The breast of lamb is sold in most markets MOLD OF RICE FILLED WITH CHOPPED MEAT
A spare set of directions for a cut that has largely dropped out of sight. The whole method rests on keeping the heat low enough that the fat renders without flaring.
- The hinge: gentle heatBreast of lamb is among the fattiest cuts on the animal, and dripping fat over a bright fire means flare-ups and a scorched surface over raw meat. Broil well away from the element, or grill over the cooler side of the coals, and turn often as directed.
- "Broil" in 1900"Broil" in this period -- The book assumes an open grid over a coal or wood fire, meat exposed to radiant heat from below or the side. Under a domestic broiler, set the rack 6-7 inches from the element rather than the usual 3-4.
- Buying the cutNo longer stocked in most supermarkets, but a butcher will have it, often labelled lamb riblets or Denver ribs when cut into strips. Figure about 1 lb per person, since it is largely bone and fat.
- Bone side first"The inside of the meat toward the fire first" most likely means the concave, bony side, so that the initial fat renders off before the outer surface takes direct heat.
- Trimming paysPull off the papery membrane on the bone side and trim the heavy fat cap to a thin layer before cooking. Untrimmed, the cut renders far more grease than an open grid can cope with.
- DonenessBreast is usually taken further than a chop, to around 145-150F or beyond. It is often braised or slow-roasted first and finished on the grill for colour, which suits a cut this fatty and sinewy better than broiling from raw.
- SeasoningSalt and pepper go on at the end here, as the recipe directs, without explanation. Salting an hour ahead is fine and improves the flavour of a fatty cut.
Breast of lamb belongs to the category of cuts that a household cookbook of 1890-1910 could still assume were on every butcher's block and cheap enough not to comment on. The Butterick Publishing Company, better known for dress patterns, aimed its cook book at the same middle-class housekeeper who bought its magazines, and much of the meat chapter is devoted to making inexpensive cuts presentable. Broiling was the prestige technique of the period, reserved in most books for steaks and chops; applying it to the breast, and warning at length about the fire, is the book quietly showing that a thrifty cut could be treated like a good one. The cut remains standard in Middle Eastern, North African and Chinese cooking, which is why the riblets version has come back to American butcher counters.