No. 1535

Loin of Veal a la Printaniere

Longe de Veau a la Printaniere

Remove the fat from the kidney side of a loin of veal; bone it entirely, flatten the flap after pricking it with the tip of a knife; season lightly with salt and pepper, and then roll the flap over, bringing it on the kidney side; tie it into an oblong-shape. Line a saucepan with slices of fat pork, a few sliced onions and carrots, two split calves' feet, a knuckle of veal, and a little ham; lay the loin of veal on top, and moisten the whole with a pint of stock (No. 194a). Set the saucepan on a brisk fire, then let the liquid fall to a glaze and get a fine golden color, then moisten again with a pint of stock; cover the meat with a sheet of buttered paper, place the lid on the saucepan and let cook slowly for two hours, basting and remoistening frequently. Remove the paper and glaze the meat; skim the fat from the stock, pass it through a fine strainer, and reduce it with an equal amount of brown espagnole sauce (No. 414). Dress the loin on an oval dish; garnish around with a printaniere of carrots and turnips cut round, cooked and glazed separately, some braised lettuce, cauliflowers, glazed onions, and string beans.

← No. 1534 Loin of Veal a l'Ambassade Veal No. 1536 Loin of Veal a la Saintonge →

For the Modern Kitchen

A classic braise from Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894), written for a kitchen with a stockpot always going and a second cook to handle the vegetables. The method itself is sound; most of the work is in the supporting parts.

The hinge: glaze, then remoistenThe instruction to let the first pint of stock fall to a glaze and colour before adding the second is what builds the flavour and the sauce. Do not skip it or hurry it -- the sugars in the stock and vegetables must caramelise on the pan bottom, then dissolve into the second addition.
Calves' feet and knuckleThese are gelatine, not garnish: they give the braising liquid the body that lets it reduce to a glossy sauce. Butchers will order calves' feet with notice; a split veal knuckle or a pound of veal neck bones plus a pig's foot will do the same work.
Fat porkMost likely sliced fresh pork fatback for barding, though the phrase can also cover salt pork. If you use salt pork, blanch it first and cut the seasoning, since the liquid is reduced twice and salt concentrates.
EspagnoleNo. 414 is a long-cooked brown sauce built on roux and brown stock, a day's project on its own. A well-reduced brown veal stock, thickened lightly if you want the coating quality, gives the same result in the finished sauce.
Heat and vessel"A brisk fire" is high heat; the slow two-hour cook wants a bare simmer. A heavy Dutch oven with the buttered paper laid directly on the meat under the lid works better than a stovetop saucepan; if you prefer the oven, 300-325F holds the simmer without attention.
Boneless loin timingTwo hours suits a rolled, tied loin of 4-5 lb. Check at 90 minutes and pull it when a skewer slides through the thickest part with slight resistance. Overbraided veal loin turns dry and stringy rather than falling apart.
The printaniereEvery vegetable is cooked and glazed separately, then arranged around the meat -- carrots and turnips turned or cut in rounds, braised lettuce, cauliflower, glazed small onions, string beans. This is the point of the dish; done in one pan it is simply a pot roast.
YieldA boned 4-5 lb loin with the full garnish serves eight to ten. Slice the roll crosswise so each portion shows the rolled flap.

A Little History

A la printaniere means "in the spring style," and in nineteenth-century French service it denoted a garnish of young vegetables, each cooked apart and glazed, ringed around a braised or roasted joint -- the term describes the presentation rather than any one recipe. Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's in New York for over thirty years, published The Epicurean in 1894 as a working record of that kitchen, and the veal chapter runs through a long series of loin treatments distinguished only by their garnish and sauce, each keyed by number to a stock and a mother sauce elsewhere in the book. That cross-referencing is the tell: the book assumes a brigade in which espagnole and brown stock already exist, and the cook's task is assembly and finish. Veal loin was a prestige cut for such treatment, and the calves' feet in the braise reflect a period when gelatine came from bones as a matter of course rather than from a packet.