Sweetbreads a la Binda

This is an assembly instruction from a book that assumes you have already read four other numbered recipes. Almost all the real work is in the sweetbreads and the garnishes; the croustade is architecture.

• Start with the sweetbreads two days outStart with the sweetbreads well ahead -- The cross-reference to No. 1575 (and to No. 1550, the book's general method) assumes the standard preparation: soak in several changes of cold water until they run pale, blanch briefly, cool, peel off membrane and gristle, then press flat between two trays with a weight for a few hours. Unpressed sweetbreads cook unevenly and slump on the plate, which defeats the whole point of a dish built upward.
• "Larded and glazed with gravy" means braisedLard with strips of pork fat if you want the period result, or simply bard them; then braise on a bed of aromatics in a little stock, covered, in a moderate oven until tender (the book gives no temperature or time), and reduce the braising liquid to a syrup. Glazing here means coating with that reduction until it shines, usually brushed on and set with a brief blast of heat.
• Croutons are shapes, not toastIn this book a crouton is a piece cut to a set form, of bread or, as here, of other solid ingredients. This recipe calls for 2-inch discs of cooked, pressed tongue and 2-inch discs of forcemeat, which you can poach flat in a buttered tray, chill, and stamp out.
• Foundation paste is a stand, not foodNo. 135 is a stiff baked paste used as a pedestal rather than as eating; check the recipe itself for its make-up. A modern cook can build the same low ring from a slice of fried bread, a baked pastry case, or simply omit it and mound the pasta in the centre of the dish. How it was "fastened" to the dish is not stated here.
• PaillettesRanhofer's note describes a solid extruded pasta about 2.4 mm across with no hole. It is not readily found under that name today; short-cut vermicelli, fideos, or thin spaghettini broken into lengths gives the same effect. "Neapolitan" in this book appears to mean the macaroni boiled and dressed with butter, cheese and tomato -- see the book's own macaroni entries.
• Half-glaze is demi-glaceNo. 413 is a reduced brown sauce, and the recipe directs it to be served separately, in a sauceboat. Keep it loose enough to pour; a reduction that sets to jelly on the plate is too far gone.
• Do not overcookBraised sweetbreads are done when a skewer meets slight resistance and the outside has set firm. Held longer they go dry and grainy, and the glaze turns to varnish.
• YieldThe original gives none. One pair of veal sweetbreads, sliced, dresses the top of a croustade for four to six as a course in a long menu; scale the tongue and forcemeat discs to the circumference of your dish.