No. 1696

Lamb Fries, Cream Horseradish or Tomato Sauce

Animelles d'Agneau a la Sauce Raifort a la Crème ou a la Sauce Tomate

Skin and then cut them up either in two or four, according to their size; lay them in a vessel to season with salt, pepper, oil and lemon-juice, and leave to marinate for one hour; roll them in flour, immerse in beaten eggs and roll again in bread-crumbs, then fry them to a fine golden color and drain. Dress them on a napkin in a pyramid; garnish the top with a bunch of fried parsley, and around with quartered lemon. Serve separately either a cream horseradish sauce (No. 478) or a tomato sauce (No. 549).

← No. 1695 Epigrammes of Lamb, Ancient Style Lamb No. 1697 Lamb Haslets Marinated →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer's animelles are lamb testicles, sold in the US as lamb fries and in Britain as lamb stones. The recipe is straightforward breading and frying; nearly all the difficulty is in the prep and the sourcing.

What you are buyingAsk a halal or Middle Eastern butcher, or a whole-animal butcher, for lamb fries; they are rarely a case item and usually need ordering. Figure 1 to 1 1/4 lb for four as an appetizer.
SkinningEach fry is wrapped in a tough outer membrane that shrinks violently in hot fat and must come off. Slit it lengthwise with a paring knife and peel it back with your fingers; chilling or a brief 30-second blanch makes it release more willingly.
The marinadeRanhofer's salt, pepper, oil and lemon juice for one hour is worth keeping. The acid seasons the very soft interior, may help the pieces hold together in the fryer, and cuts the faint mineral richness. Don't skip it.
Sizing the cutsRanhofer says only to cut them in two or four according to size; aim for pieces thin enough to cook through in the time the crumb needs to color. Pat them dry after marinating or the flour will gum.
Frying temperatureRanhofer assumes deep fat. Use 350–360F: hot enough for a fine golden color in 2 to 3 minutes, cool enough that the centers set without the crumbs darkening. They are done when firm to the touch, not soft.
Fried parsleyWhole flat-leaf sprigs, bone dry, dropped into the same fat for 15 to 20 seconds until they stop spitting and turn brittle and dark green. Wet parsley will erupt; stand back and use a spider.
The saucesNo. 478 is grated horseradish folded into thick cream or a cream-based sauce; No. 549 is a cooked tomato sauce. Either works, and a plain whipped cream and horseradish with lemon and salt is a fair stand-in if you are not working through the whole book.
DressingServing fried items in a pyramid on a folded napkin was a common practice in period service; the linen absorbs fat. A rack over a warm platter does the same job.

A Little History

This is No. 1696 from Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894), the enormous record of his years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, where a professional kitchen was expected to have a use for every part of the animal and a French name for it. Animelles is a standard French culinary term for testicles, and dishes of them appear in French cookery long before Ranhofer; the same organ shows up in American vernacular cooking as lamb fries, calf fries, or -- in the Western states -- Rocky Mountain oysters, often sliced, breaded and fried much as it is here. The three-stage flour, egg and crumb coating, here preceded by an acid marinade, is a treatment the book applies to soft, mild variety meats, and the choice offered between a cream horseradish and a tomato sauce gives the fried dish something sharp beside it.