V eal should be fat, finely grained, white, firm, and not overgrown :
for when very large it is apt to be coarse and tough. It is more
difficult to keep than any other meat except pork, and should never
be allowed to acquire the slightest taint before it is dressed, as any
approach to putridity renders it equally unwholesome and offensive
to the taste. The fillet, the loin, the shoulder, and the best end of
the neck, are the parts generally selected for roasting ; the breast and
knuckle are more usually stewed or boiled, although the former
is excellent roasted. The udder or firm white fat of the fillet,
is much used by French cooks instead of butter, in the composition
of their forcemeats : for these, it is first well boiled, tin n left until
quite cold, and afterwards thoroughly pounded before it is mixed
with the other ingredients. The head and feet pf the calf are
V
210
MODERN COOKERY.
[chap. xi.
valuable articles of food, both for the nutriment which the gelatinous
parts of them afford, and for the great variety of modes in which
they may be dressed. The kidneys, with the rich fat that surrounds
them, and the sweetbreads, are well known delicacies ; the liver and
the heart also are very good eating; and no meat is so generally
useful for rich soups and gravies as veal.
TO TAKE THE HAIR FROM A CALF’s HEAD WITH THE
SKIN ON.
It is better to do this before the head is divided; but if only the
half of one with the skin on can be procured, it must be managed in
the same way. Put it into plenty of water which is on the point of
simmering but which does not positively boil, and let it remain in
until it does so, and for five or six minutes afterwards, but at the
first full bubble draw it from the fire and let it merely scald ; then
lift it out, and with a knife that is not sharp scrape off the hair as
closely as possible. The butchers have an instrument on purpose
for the operation; but we have had the head look quite as well
when done in the manner we have just described, as when it has
been sent in ready prepared by them. After the hair is off, the
head should be well washed, and if it cannot be cooked the same day,
it miut be wiped extremely dry before it is hung up ; and when it
has not been divided, it should be left whole until the time ap-
proaches for dressing it. The brain must then be taken out, and
both that and the head well soaked and washed with the greatest
nicety. When the half head only is scalded, the brain should first
be removed. Calves’ feet are freed from the hair easily in the same
manner ; indeed, we find it a better mode of having it cleared from
them than the one we have given in Chapter XXII., though that is
practised by many good butchers.
BOILED calf’s HEAD. ✪ Boiled Calf's Head
Page 202 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1884. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
V eal should be fat, finely grained, white, firm, and not overgrown : for when very large it is apt to be coarse and tough. It is more difficult to keep than any other meat except pork, and should never be allowed to acquire the slightest taint before it is dressed, as any approach to putridity renders it equally unwholesome and offensive to the taste. The fillet, the loin, the shoulder, and the best end of the neck, are the parts generally selected for roasting ; the breast and knuckle are more usually stewed or boiled, although the former is excellent roasted. The udder or firm white fat of the fillet, is much used by French cooks instead of butter, in the composition of their forcemeats : for these, it is first well boiled, tin n left until quite cold, and afterwards thoroughly pounded before it is mixed with the other ingredients. The head and feet of the calf are
[chap. xi.
valuable articles of food, both for the nutriment which the gelatinous parts of them afford, and for the great variety of modes in which they may be dressed. The kidneys, with the rich fat that surrounds them, and the sweetbreads, are well known delicacies ; the liver and the heart also are very good eating; and no meat is so generally useful for rich soups and gravies as veal.
TO TAKE THE HAIR FROM A CALF’s HEAD WITH THE SKIN ON.
It is better to do this before the head is divided; but if only the half of one with the skin on can be procured, it must be managed in the same way. Put it into plenty of water which is on the point of simmering but which does not positively boil, and let it remain in until it does so, and for five or six minutes afterwards, but at the first full bubble draw it from the fire and let it merely scald ; then lift it out, and with a knife that is not sharp scrape off the hair as closely as possible. The butchers have an instrument on purpose for the operation; but we have had the head look quite as well when done in the manner we have just described, as when it has been sent in ready prepared by them. After the hair is off, the head should be well washed, and if it cannot be cooked the same day, it miut be wiped extremely dry before it is hung up ; and when it has not been divided, it should be left whole until the time approaches for dressing it. The brain must then be taken out, and both that and the head well soaked and washed with the greatest nicety. When the half head only is scalded, the brain should first be removed. Calves’ feet are freed from the hair easily in the same manner ; indeed, we find it a better mode of having it cleared from them than the one we have given in Chapter XXII., though that is practised by many good butchers.
BOILED calf’s HEAD.
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Boiled Calf's Head