No. 1512

Schnitzel, German Style

Schnitzel a l'Allemande

Pare neatly a tenderloin or a round bottom of veal and cut in thin slices across the grain of the meat, beat these with the blade of a cleaver to thin them considerably, then season with salt and pepper; dip them first in beaten eggs, then roll in bread-crumbs and fry in clarified butter (No. 16) on a brisk fire, when cooked and of a fine color, dress them flat in a circle on a buttered espagnole sauce (No. 414), into which some lemon juice has been stirred; on each slice of veal place one egg fried in butter in a frying pan, and on these eggs range lozenge-shaped and symmetrically some fillets of anchovies, and in the center of each lozenge lay a few nonpareil capers; surround the dish with a border of gherkins and sliced lemon having the peel notched.

← No. 1511 Paupiettes of Fillet of Veal a la Whittier Veal No. 1513 Schnitzel, Vienna Style →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer's cross-references (clarified butter No. 16, espagnole No. 414) assume you have a brigade and a stockpot going. The dish itself is straightforward: breaded veal cutlets under a fried egg and anchovy, the garnish now generally known as Holstein.

The hinge: pound thin, fry fast"Beat these with the blade of a cleaver to thin them considerably" gives no thickness; something around 1/8 inch is a reasonable target. Use the flat of a heavy knife or a mallet between plastic sheets. Thin cutlets on a brisk (hot) fire cook in a minute or two a side; thicker ones stew in their crumbs and toughen.
The cut"Round bottom" is the bottom round of the leg, not beef round; the tenderloin here is the veal fillet. Modern equivalents are leg or top round scallops, sold as veal cutlets or scaloppine.
Clarified butterNo. 16 is simply butter melted and the milk solids skimmed and decanted off. It matters here because whole butter's solids will blacken before the crumbs colour. Ghee or a butter-and-neutral-oil mix does the same work.
EspagnoleThe classic brown sauce built on a brown roux and veal stock, simmered and skimmed for hours. "Buttered" means finished off the heat with cold butter whisked in; the lemon juice goes in at the same moment. A good reduced veal or beef demi-glace, mounted with butter and sharpened with lemon, stands in without apology.
Nonpareil capersThe smallest grade, about 7 mm, packed in brine or vinegar. Any small caper works; rinse salt-packed ones. Larger capers will not sit neatly inside an anchovy lozenge.
Anchovy filletsRanhofer does not say how his anchovies were packed; salt-packed fillets, then as now, need rinsing and are saltier than oil-packed ones. Cut them into short diagonals and lay them crosswise to form the diamond, and taste as you go: modern fillets are concentrated enough that a little goes a long way.
The eggsFry them separately in butter with set whites and a loose yolk, and slide one onto each cutlet at the last moment. Cook the eggs while the veal rests a minute; the plate will be cold if you do it the other way round.
Yield and servingRanhofer gives no number. Figure one to two cutlets per person and count on six to eight slices from a 2 lb piece of leg — the circle arrangement on the sauce suits a platter for four to six.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's, published The Epicurean in 1894, and its veal section runs through the schnitzels the way a French-trained kitchen understood them: this one a l'Allemande, the next in the Vienna style. What he describes here is essentially the garnish now called Holstein - breaded veal, fried egg, anchovy and capers - which is traditionally linked to the German diplomat Friedrich von Holstein, though the attribution is not firmly documented and Ranhofer does not use the name. How he distinguished the German from the Viennese version cannot be judged from this page alone; here, at any rate, the cutlet is loaded with the salty garnish and set on a brown sauce. The notched lemon peel, the lozenge-cut anchovies and the symmetrical ring of gherkins belong to the platter geometry of the grand kitchens of the period, where the arrangement was part of what the customer paid for.