Veal Loaf
Chop fine three pounds of leg or loin of veal and three-fourths pound salt pork, chopped finely together; roll one dozen crackers, put half of them in the veal with two eggs, season with pepper and a little salt if needed; mix all together and make into a solid form; then take the crackers that are left and spread smoothly over the outside; bake one hour, and eat cold. - Gov. Tilden, N. Y.
A straightforward forcemeat loaf, but the original gives neither oven temperature nor pan, and one hour is short for a loaf this size. Cook to temperature rather than to the clock.
- Internal temperature firstThree pounds of veal plus salt pork makes a loaf of nearly four pounds, and one hour at any moderate heat will leave the centre underdone. Ground veal should reach 160F on an instant-read thermometer; expect 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 hours at 350F depending on how thick you form it.
- Oven heatNo temperature is given; domestic ovens of the period had no thermostat, and heat was judged by hand and experience. The recipe specifies no oven term at all, so 350F is simply a workable modern choice for a loaf this size.
- CrackersThe recipe says only 'crackers'; in period American books that usually meant a plain soda or common cracker, and the two differ considerably in size. Measure rather than count: roll enough to give you two roughly equal portions, one worked into the meat and one spread over the outside. Unsalted cracker crumbs or dry breadcrumbs both work; if you use saltines, hold back the added salt, as the recipe itself allows ('a little salt if needed').
- Salt porkThree-quarters of a pound of salt pork is the fat and most of the seasoning in a lean meat. Rinse it before chopping, and taste the seasoning by frying a teaspoon of the mixture rather than trusting the raw mix.
- Chopping"Chop fine" meant a hand chopper or a hand-cranked mincer. Ground veal from the butcher is the equivalent; ask for the pork ground in with it, or pulse the two together briefly in a food processor so the fat stays in distinct flecks.
- Making "a solid form"Making 'a solid form' -- The recipe names no pan, only that the mixture be made into a solid form and the remaining crumbs spread over the outside, which implies a free-standing loaf rather than one baked in a tin. A shallow or dripping pan will let the outer crumbs crust; a loaf tin steams the sides instead. Pack it firmly so cold slices hold together.
- Eating coldThe instruction is not incidental. Chilled overnight, the loaf firms enough to slice thin for sandwiches or a cold table, and the gelatine from the veal sets the juices. Served hot it crumbles.
- YieldAbout ten to twelve servings as a cold meat course, more as sandwich filling. It keeps three or four days refrigerated.
The attribution is to Samuel J. Tilden, governor of New York in 1875-76 and the Democratic candidate who won the popular vote in the disputed 1876 presidential election. The Dixie Cook-Book, like many of the large compiled American cookbooks of the 1880s, padded its authority with recipes credited to public figures and their households, and a signature from a northern politician in a southern-marketed book says something about how those collections were assembled from earlier compilations rather than gathered locally. The dish itself belongs to the era's enthusiasm for pressed and molded cold meats: veal, being lean and mild and rich in natural gelatine, was the standard choice for a loaf meant to be sliced cold, with salt pork supplying the fat and cracker crumbs the binding. Cold veal loaf turns up under various names in period books and was a fixture of buffet suppers and picnic hampers well into the twentieth century, before veal became an expensive and uncommon cut in American kitchens.