I had never heard of sweetbreads until I began reading old cookbooks. Sweetbreads are what the thymus gland or pancreas of a calf or lamb are called. Offal or organ meats are the parts of the animal that are not muscle.

INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS

TO PREPARE SWEETBREADS
The sweetbread belonging to the breast of the calf is far superior to that which is found about the throat, being larger, whiter, more tender, and more delicate. Always buy them in preference. They should be set immediately on ice, and prepared for cooking as speedily as possible, for they spoil very soon. Soak them in warm water till all the blood is discharged. Then put them into boiling water, and boil them five minutes. After this, lay them immediately in a pan of very cold water. This sudden transition from hot water to cold, will blanch or whiten them. Dark-colored sweetbreads make a very bad appearance. Four are generally sufficient for a small dish. But as, if well cooked, they are much liked, it is best to have six; or else eight upon two dishes. If the sweetbreads are to be cut up before cooking, remove and throw away the gristle that pervades every one. If they are to be cooked whole, you may leave the gristle in, to be taken out by the eaters.

For company, it is usual to lard sweetbreads with slips of fat ham or bacon, or of cold smoked tongue.

Sweetbreads are used as side-dishes at dinners, or at nice breakfasts.

TO BAKE SWEETBREADS
Take three sets of sweetbreads, boil them well and let them get cold. Mix two eggs well and roll them carefully first in the egg, then in bread crumbs. Let them stand, so as the egg and crumbs will dry on them. Then put two tablespoons each of butter and lard in a hot skillet. Put in the sweetbreads, and baste constantly for fifteen minutes. Serve either with a tomato or champignon [mushroom] sauce.

TO FRY SWEETBREADS
Take six sweetbreads. Wash them clean and put them into a kettle of boiling water with a teaspoon of salt. Boil slowly for twenty minutes, then throw them into cold water. After five minutes, take them out and set them away to get cold.

Have ready a batter made of one coffee cup of sweet milk, one teaspoon of flour, one dessertspoon* of butter, one well-beaten egg, and salt and black pepper to the taste.
Split the sweetbreads, dip each piece into the batter, and fry a nice brown in hot lard.

*dessertspoon – two teaspoons.

SWEETBREADS FRICASSEE
Cut the sweetbreads in pretty thick slices, boil them till about half done, with a little more water than just to cover them. Add a little salt, white pepper, and mace. Then some butter, the yolks of four eggs beaten with a little white wine, and some verjuice.* Keep this over the fire, shaking it well, till the sauce is properly thickened. Serve it up with the juice of a Seville orange squeezed over it.

If it is to be a brown fricassee, fry the sweetbreads first in butter till the outside is browned. Then pour away the butter, put water to the sweetbreads, and boil and finish them as before. An onion or a clove of garlic may be added to the water, or if broth be used instead of water, it will make the fricassee more savory.

*verjuice – a sour juice made from crabapples, unripe grapes, or other fruit.

SWEETBREADS RAGOUT
Cut the sweetbreads about the size of a walnut, wash and dry them, then fry them of a fine brown. Pour on them a good gravy, seasoned with salt, pepper, allspice, and either mushrooms or mushroom ketchup, adding truffles and morels, if approved. Strain, and thicken with butter and a little flour.

SWEETBREADS CUSTARDS
Soak two very white sweetbreads in salt and water one hour. Parboil for twenty minutes, then let them cool. Remove the skin, fat, and gristle. Cut them into half-inch dice and lay them aside while you prepare the following sauce:

Put a gill* of strong white stock into a small saucepan with a gill of mushroom liquor and a dozen small mushrooms cut in four to boil. In another saucepan, cook an ounce of flour and one of butter together, stirring till they bubble. Pour the two gills of stock quickly to it, and stir till smooth. Season with half a teaspoon of salt and very little pepper.

Lay in the sweetbreads and let them stew twenty minutes. Strain them off from the sauce, boil down (stirring constantly to prevent burning) till very thick, then add a gill of thick fresh cream. The sauce should now be thick enough to mask the spoon very heavily. Pour it over the sweetbreads and stir together. This is now ready for filling the custard cups.

*gill/jill – a liquid measurement; four ounces in the U.S. and five ounces in the U.K.

SWEETBREADS WITH MUSHROOMS
Lay half a dozen sweetbreads in cold water for twelve hours, changing the water several times. Then boil them five minutes, drop into cold water, remove the skin and lard* with fat bacon. Put them in a saucepan with a pint of stock, two small onions and one carrot chopped, a teaspoon of minced parsley, salt, pepper, cayenne, and a little mace. Stew until tender.

Serve with a mushroom sauce, made as follows: take a small bottle of mushrooms or one dozen fresh mushrooms sliced, and boil them five minutes in water and lime juice. Drain and place in a stew pan with two ounces of butter, one ounce of flour and a pint of well seasoned stock or gravy. Cook until the sauce is reduced one-half. Pour over the hot sweetbreads.

*lard — inserting strips of fat or bacon in meat by using a larding-pin or larding-needle, before cooking to keep it from drying out.

LARDED SWEETBREADS
Parboil three or four of the largest sweetbreads you can get. When half-boiled, lay them in cold water. Prepare a forcemeat of grated bread, lemon peel, butter, salt, pepper, and nutmeg mixed with beaten yolk of egg. Cut open the sweetbreads and stuff them with the forcemeat, fastening them afterwards with a skewer, or tying them round with pack thread.

Have ready some slips of bacon fat and some slips of lemon peel, cut about the thickness of very small straws. Lard the sweetbreads with them in alternate rows of bacon and lemon peel, drawing them through with a larding needle. Do it regularly and handsomely. Then put the sweetbreads into a Dutch oven and bake them brown. Serve them with veal gravy flavored with a glass of Madeira and enriched with beaten yolk of egg stirred in at the last.

Image from Deposit Photos

The video below shows how to prepare sweetbreads for cooking

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ODD BITS: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal

We’re all familiar with the prime cuts—the beef tenderloin, rack of lamb, and pork chops. But what about kidneys, tripe, liver, belly, cheek, and shank? Odd Bits will not only restore our taste for these cuts, but will also remove the mystery of cooking with offal, so food lovers can approach them as confidently as they would a steak. From the familiar (pork belly), to the novel (cockscomb), to the downright challenging (lamb testicles), Jennifer McLagan provides expert advice and delicious recipes to make these odd bits part of every enthusiastic cook’s repertoire.

Available as an ebook on a variety of online stores (click on image or title above). Also available as a hardback book on Amazon.

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Have you Ever Eaten Sweetbreads?  Please Leave a Comment Below.
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