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Stewed Pig's Kidneys
Put a couple of pig's kidneys in a little cold water and steep them for a few minutes. Take them out, drain, cut them into slices and put them in a saucepan together with two ounces of butter, one tablespoonful of flour, half as much minced parsley, two chives, one saltspoonful of pepper, and a wineglassful of Madeira; place the pan on the fire and cook the contents gently without letting them boil for fifteen minutes. They must be stirred constantly, as they are very likely to burn. When done, put them on a dish, and serve very hot. Pig's kidneys may also be cooked in the same way as sheep's if desired.
A simple sauté-and-simmer in a Madeira sauce, written for cooks who bought whole kidneys and knew what to do with them. Two details need translating and one timing deserves argument.
- Buying and trimmingPork kidneys come whole, sometimes still in their jacket of suet. Halve them lengthwise and cut out the white core and any fat and membrane before slicing; the core and ducts carry much of the ammoniac taste.
- The steepingA few minutes in cold water is the minimum. Modern practice is often to soak trimmed pork kidney 30 minutes to an hour in cold water, or in water with a splash of vinegar or milk, changing it once, then drain and pat completely dry so the slices will take heat rather than steam.
- Old measuresA saltspoonful is a quarter teaspoon. A wineglassful in American books of this period is roughly 2 fl oz, a quarter cup. "Two chives" means two stalks, minced — a teaspoon at most.
- No salt listedThe ingredient list gives pepper only. Season with salt at the end, after the Madeira has reduced, and taste before serving.
- Handle the flourMelt the butter, stir in the flour and let it cook a moment before the kidneys and wine go in, or the sauce will taste raw and pasty. This is also why the pan wants constant stirring: butter and flour over direct heat scorch fast.
- Fifteen minutes is longSliced kidney firms up in two or three minutes and turns rubbery beyond that. Whatever the original intended by a gentle, never-boiling fifteen minutes, modern practice is to sear the slices briefly, lift them out, build the sauce, then return them to warm through.
- Never boilThe instruction is deliberate: boiling toughens the kidney. Keep the pan at a bare tremble.
- YieldTwo pig's kidneys serve two as a breakfast or supper dish. Toast or plain boiled rice takes the Madeira sauce well.
Oscar Tschirky was maître d'hôtel of the Waldorf, not its chef, but the 1896 book under his name gathered the hotel's working repertoire — and that repertoire was still deeply French, with an English breakfast accent. Kidneys in a buttered wine sauce belong to the same family as the devilled kidneys that appeared on British and American hotel breakfast sideboards through the nineteenth century, and the cross-reference at the end ("in the same way as sheep's") suggests a book in which one method was applied to whatever offal the market sent up. Madeira was long a staple fortified wine in American cookery, later giving ground to sherry.