Sweetbreads, Zurich

Ranhofer writes for a brigade that already has stock, espagnole, forcemeat and soubise standing by; almost everything difficult is hidden behind a cross-reference. Read it as an assembly plan and the work divides into five separate preparations.

• Heart sweetbreadsThe "heart" sweetbread is the rounded pancreatic gland, firmer and more compact than the elongated throat (thymus) sweetbread, and generally the one preferred where the pieces must hold their shape under larding and glazing. Six of them serve six as a plated course; order them from a butcher a few days ahead.
• The step Ranhofer omitsHe assumes you know the standing preparation: soak the sweetbreads in several changes of cold water until they run clear, blanch them briefly, cool, peel off the outer membrane and press them flat between two plates under a weight until cold. Skipping the pressing gives you a soft gland that will not take studding or hold a glaze.
• Larding and studdingThe tongue is cooked, cured tongue cut into thin fillets and threaded into the trimmed edges with a larding needle; the truffle goes into the face of the sweetbread in short plugs. This is decoration that also seasons, and it must be done while the sweetbread is cold and firm.
• Braise and glazeRanhofer sends you to "a la Conti" (No. 1554) for the method; that recipe, not reproduced here, governs the detail. In practice this means a shallow braise on a bed of aromatics in a small quantity of veal stock, covered, the sweetbreads basted and the liquid reduced at the end until it lacquers them. Ranhofer gives no oven temperature or cooking time; a moderate oven and roughly 30-40 minutes is a modern working estimate rather than his instruction. They should be cooked through and firm, not pink.
• Veal palateThe lining of the calf's upper mouth, once sold cooked and gelatinous, is effectively unobtainable now. Cooked veal tongue or braised cheek cut in quarter-inch dice gives the same soft, faintly sticky contrast; button mushrooms and truffle carry the rest.
• Brown sauce No. 414This is Ranhofer's espagnole, a long-simmered brown veal sauce. A good reduced veal stock thickened lightly, then finished with the strained braising liquid, does the same job. Reserve part of it for the sauce-boat, as instructed -- the recipe does not say how much -- since the sauce on the plate will be reduced further and sits mostly as a glaze.
• Soubise quenellesSoubise is a thick onion purée, cooked down with rice or béchamel until it is stiff enough not to slacken the forcemeat. Fold it into chicken quenelle forcemeat, poach test spoonfuls first, and poach the rest in barely trembling salted stock at about 170F so they set without breaking.
• CroustadesIn 1894 these were cases of fried bread or pastry, hollowed and dried; small tartlet shells or thick rounds of brioche hollowed and toasted work. Fill them at the last moment or the garnish softens the base.