sweetbread

 

The thymus gland (known as throat sweetbread) and the pancreas (stomach sweetbread), especially of the calf and lamb (although beef sweetbreads are sometimes eaten), are considered delicacies and are rich in mineral elements and vitamins. The pancreas is generally preferred to the thymus. Sweetbreads are highly perishable and, immediately after removal from refrigeration, should be soaked and parboiled, then creamed, curried, braised, or otherwise prepared for serving.

Sweetbread is the name of a dish made of the thymus gland or pancreas of an animal younger than one year old. These animals are usually lambs or calves. According to Four Story Hill Farms, no American slaughterhouse has processed pancreas for chefs in over forty years. Larousse, published in Europe, also says the pancreas is rarely used^[1]. The pancreas is often sold to the pharmaceutical industry.

The two organs have very different biological functions, but look fairly similar and so are considered, for the purpose of cooking, to be comparable. Thymus sweetbreads are slightly longer and more irregular, with pancreas sweetbreads being larger and more rounded.

The term can also refer to the sweetening of bread with honey or sugar.

Preparation

Sweetbreads, like many other offal, should be soaked in water for at least five hours to remove blood, the common method being to soak in several changes of salted cold water (1 cup per gallon works well). Then place in a saucepan of fresh cold salted water. Heat slowly. At the first sign of boiling, remove, drain and refresh under cold running water. Drain and wipe dry. This should remove the unpleasantly flavored fat, veins and connective tissues. Most often this is followed by pressing, or applying weight on the poached offal. Areas of dark coloration, which can often carry an unpleasant iron flavor owing to blood, should be trimmed or pulled away. To serve, they can be finished with any cooking technique: often seared, fried, braised or grilled.^[1]

Seared, grilled or fried, the preferred temperature is medium well, as the sweetbreads remain squishy when undercooked and unpleasantly granular when overdone. The internal color should be slightly pink. The mouthfeel can be described as "spongy" but is surprisingly approachable. They are very fatty (and very high in cholesterol, comparable with shrimp) and have a slightly gamey flavor, reminiscent of raw eggs that can be tamed with the addition of smoked pork, aromatic acids (as in a vinaigrette) or as below, carefully darkened (past brown) butter.

A popular French recipe ris de veau sautés involves calve's sweetbreads, which are first blanched with carrots, celery stalks, shallots, garlic, aromatic herbs, wine and vinegar, then taken out and dried before being dipped into wheat flour and sauteed in a pan with butter. Sauteed sweetbreads are served with beurre noir poured over them.

Ris de veau escalopés à l’Ancienne combines calves sweetbread with mushrooms, truffle and Madiera flavoured velouté sauce.^[1]

Use in other culinary traditions

In Argentina and Uruguay, sweetbreads (mollejas) are usually used for an asado. In northern Spain, they are cooked as a stew in an earthen casserole.

In Turkey, uykuluk (Turkish for sweetbread) is a popular dish to go with rakı. Lamb sweetbreads are favoured in Turkey. The preparation of the meat before cooking is very important as this is a delicate part of the animal. Normally it's boiled for a short time and then immersed in cold water. After that the thin layer of skin should be peeled off. Then it's ready to be cooked. Mostly it's cooked either in a bit of butter or over the grill. Some red pepper, oregano and salt is added to the meat after the first 5 minutes of cooking. Istanbul's Sütlüce quarter is well-known for its restaurants specialised in preparing sweetbreads. Mexican breaded "sweetbreads" are called Mollejas

Sweetbreads in fiction

In the Pixar animated feature, Ratatouille, the characters are charged with preparing sweetbreads a la Gusteau, crusted with seaweed salt and white fungus with a dried chili-licorice sauce. Remy the rat, who directs the actions of the human Linguini, improvises upon the difficult and disastrous recipe, despite the protests of fellow chef Collette. In the end, the finished dish is a success among the restaurant patrons.

The film Red Dragon begins with a Baltimore Philharmonic. The concert was marred by poor flute playing, which distressed Dr Hannibal Lecter who was in the audience. The next scene is a dinner party for the orchestra board at Lecter's house. A mysterious ragout is served, which Lecter is reluctant to identify, while board members bemoan the disappearance of the flautist Pierre Raspail. A few days later, Raspail's body is found—missing the thymus and pancreas — precisely the organs that in food animals are referred to as sweetbreads.

In the Dirk Pitt adventure Atlantis Found by Clive Cussler, while dining with Congresswoman Loren Smith at St. Cyr's, Pitt has an expression of ecstasy on his face. "When I'm served sweetbreads from a master chef, I hear bells with every bite. The sauce is a triumph."

References

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