Sweetbreads, Neapolitan Style

A composed Delmonico's plate that assumes half a dozen other numbered preparations are already sitting in the kitchen. Almost all the work happens before the frying pan.

• The hinge: press them coldCook the sweetbreads as directed in No. 1560, then press them flat under a weight in the rings and chill thoroughly. A warm or soft sweetbread will not hold the herb layer, the forcemeat dome or the egg coating, and the whole assembly slumps in the butter.
• Throat sweetbreadsThe throat (thymus) sweetbread is the long, ragged one; the round "heart" sweetbread is the pancreas. Order either from a butcher in advance. Soak in several changes of cold water until the water runs clear, blanch, then peel the outer membrane before braising.
• The cross-references, in plain termsFine herbs (No. 385) is a cooked mince of shallot, mushroom and parsley; half glaze is reduced brown sauce; No. 89 is a chicken forcemeat pounded with panada and cream, essentially raw quenelle mixture. Velouté is a white veal or chicken stock sauce thickened with pale roux.
• "Oval rings"Ring moulds used to press each sweetbread into a uniform oval while it cools. Egg rings or lightly oiled tart rings do the same job; a flat press between two trays is acceptable if you trim the edges after.
• Unsmoked red beef tongueBrine-cured tongue, the cure carrying saltpetre so it stays red, but never smoked. Cooked pickled tongue from a deli is the closest thing; failing that, use a good unsmoked cooked ham cut in fine shreds, accepting that it is a substitution.
• Frying in clarified butterClarified butter only, because whole butter's milk solids scorch before the raw forcemeat sets. Keep the heat at a steady medium and turn once; the forcemeat needs several minutes to firm through, and rushing it leaves the centre raw while the egg coat blackens.
• Macaroni of the periodNineteenth-century macaroni was a long tube, hence "cut in two-inch lengths." Modern bucatini or ziti cut to length gives the intended look; boil it a shade under, since it sits in sauce.
• Three sauces, small quantitiesThe recipe only says to add all three. On a fried, coated item they are best spooned around rather than over, with the meat glaze used as a little syrupy reduction for gloss. If you have only one, tomato sauce carries the Neapolitan idea; the veloute is there to soften its acidity.
• YieldThe original gives none. Figure one throat sweetbread per person as a first course, or two for a main, with about a cup of the macaroni garnish for four.