No. 1506

Calves Feet, American Style

Pieds de Veau a l'Americaine

Dry and singe six calves' feet; split them in two to suppress the middle bone, return them to their original shape, and tie them together, then parboil for ten minutes; remove, drain, and put them back into a saucepan with water, salt, carrots, and onions, a bunch of parsley garnished with thyme and bay leaf, whole peppers, and cloves; let this cook on a moderate fire for one hour and a half. Fry in some lard, a few celery roots, onions, and ham cut in dice; moisten with the above stock and white wine, add to it the feet, and when well cooked, which will take about three hours, drain and bone them; season over with salt, mignonette, and nutmeg, and place them under a weight; when cold, pare, besprinkle with finely chopped parsley and shallots, then dip them in eggs, then in bread-crumbs and fry over a slow fire for fifteen minutes, basting them with melted butter. Dress and serve with a separate sauce-boat of espagnole sauce (No.414) and veloute sauce (No.415), half of each, seasoned with curry, and thickened with egg-yolks.

← No. 1505 Stuffed Ears, Tomato Sauce Veal No. 1507 Grenadins of Fillet of Veal, Tomatoed Argent →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer's method is a three-stage project spread over two days: a long braise, an overnight press, then a crumbed fry. Nothing in it is difficult, but the sequence has to be respected or the boned feet will not hold together.

Sourcing the feetCalves' feet are a special order from a halal, kosher or old-style butcher; pig's trotters are the usual stand-in and behave the same way, though they are fattier. Six calves' feet is a large quantity, enough for eight to ten portions once boned and pressed.
"Suppress the middle bone"This means cut it out, not press it down. Split each foot lengthwise, lift out the central bone, then tie the halves back into their original shape so they braise without falling apart.
Singeing and parboilingSingeing burns off residual hair over a flame; the ten-minute parboil in fresh water draws scum and off-flavours. Both steps matter here because the meat is boned, seasoned and pressed cold before it is crumbed and fried, and any funk carries through to the finished slices.
The cooking timesAn hour and a half in the aromatic water, then about three hours in the wine-and-stock braise, is not exaggerated. Calf's foot is nearly all collagen and needs the full time to go from rubbery to yielding; underdone, it will not slice after pressing.
PressingBone the feet while hot, season, and pack them tightly into a loaf tin or terrine lined with plastic. Weight with something around 2 lb and chill overnight. The collagen sets into a sliceable block, which is what makes the later frying possible.
MignonetteCoarsely cracked black pepper, not a peppercorn variety and not the shallot-vinegar sauce served with oysters today.
"Fry over a slow fire for fifteen minutes"This is shallow frying, basted with melted butter, over gentle to moderate heat: enough to colour the crumbs and heat the cold block through without scorching. The book gives no temperature. Fifteen minutes suits thick slices; thinner ones will need less.
The sauceEqual parts espagnole (No. 414) and veloute (No. 415): a dark brown sauce and a light veal veloute, in modern kitchens most nearly approached by demi-glace and a blond veloute. Once the egg yolks go in, hold the sauce below a simmer or it will scramble. The recipe says only that it is seasoned with curry and gives no separate treatment for the spice.
Unspecified quantitiesThe white wine, lard and vegetables are all left to judgment. For six feet, figure a bottle of dry white and roughly a pound of diced celeriac, onion and ham between them.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty-odd years as chef at Delmonico's in New York. The technique here is thoroughly French and thoroughly nineteenth-century: braise a gelatinous cut, bone it, press it into a terrine, then slice, crumb and fry the cold block. The same logic produces tete de veau preparations and the various pieds de porc Sainte-Menehould, and it exists because calf's foot was cheap and rich in the collagen that makes the pressed slices firm enough to handle. Feet, ears and heads occupy several pages of Ranhofer's veal section, a reminder that a luxury restaurant of the period was expected to do something impressive with every part of the animal, not merely the loin.