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Sweetbread

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This article is about the organ meat. For sweetened breads, see Quick bread, Sweetmeat, and List of sweet breads. For the Major League Baseball pitcher, see Sweetbread Bailey.

Sweetbread is a culinary name for the thymus or pancreas, typically from calf or lamb. Sweetbreads have a rich, slightly gamey flavor and a tender, succulent texture. They are often served as an appetizer or a main course and can be accompanied by a variety of sauces and side dishes. The etymology of the name is unclear.

A dish of crusted sweetbreads

Description

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Sweetbread is a culinary name for the thymus (also called throat, gullet, or neck sweetbread) or pancreas (also called stomach, belly or heart sweetbread), typically from calf (French: ris de veau) or lamb (ris d'agneau).[1][2] Sweetbreads have a rich, slightly gamey flavor and a tender, succulent texture.

The "heart" sweetbreads are more spherical, while the "throat" sweetbreads are more cylindrical.[3] As the thymus is replaced by fibrous tissue in older animals, only pancreatic sweetbreads come from beef and pork.[4] Like other edible non-muscle from animal carcasses, sweetbreads may be categorized as offal, "fancy meat", or "variety meat".[4]: 4,23  Various other glands used as food may also sometimes be called "sweetbreads", including the parotid gland ("cheek" or "ear" sweetbread), the sublingual glands ("tongue" sweetbreads or "throat bread") as well as ovary and testicles.[5][6]

Use

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Sweetbreads are often served as an appetizer or a main course and can be accompanied by a variety of sauces and side dishes. They are a part of traditional French cuisine. In Henri-Paul Pellaprat's classic Modern French Culinary Art, which was published in English in 1966, he includes six different recipes for sweetbreads, including versions with cream sauce, with ham, presented in pastry cases, and à la Florentine.[7] In the 1961 classic, Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Volume 1, Julia Child and her co-authors also include six recipes for sweetbreads, with variations of cream and mushroom sauces, a version à l’Italienne including ham and mushrooms, and a gratin with Swiss cheese.[8]

In a cookbook published in 1949, American chef James Beard included recipes for sweetbreads en brochette, broiled sweetbreads, and three variations of sautéed sweetbreads.[9]

Sweetbreads are a component of the Creole cuisine of Louisiana, with recipes included in some of the earliest cookbooks published there. Many restaurants in New Orleans serve sweetbreads.[10][11]

Sweetbread is a common Iranian street food and is often served as a kebab.[12] One common preparation of sweetbreads involves soaking in salt water, then poaching in milk, after which the outer membrane is removed. Once dried and chilled, they are often breaded and fried.[13][14] They are also used for stuffing or in pâtés. They are grilled in many Latin American cuisines, such as in the Argentine asado, floured and pan-fried in Greece (sheep's thymus is usually used), and served in bread in Turkish cuisine.

Etymology

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The word sweetbread is first attested in the 16th century, but the etymology of the name is unclear.[1] Sweet is perhaps used since the thymus is sweet and rich-tasting, as opposed to savory-tasting muscle flesh.[15] Bread may come from Middle English brede, meaning "roast meat".[16]

See also

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  • Head cheese, or brawn – typically, meat from the head of a calf or pig

References

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  1. ^ a b "sweetbread". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/4658000352. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ Spaull, Susan; Bruce-Gardyne, Lucinda (2003). Leiths Techniques Bible (1st ed.). Bloomsbury. p. 451. ISBN 0-7475-6046-3.
  3. ^ EricT (17 May 2012). "What Are Sweetbreads?". culinarylore.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  4. ^ a b Herbert W. Ockerman; Conly L. Hansen (2000). Animal By-Product Processing & Utilization. pp. 65–66, 271. ISBN 1566767776.
  5. ^ W. A. Newman Dorland (1922). The American Illustrated Medical Dictionary. p. 1030 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ The Medical Age. Vol. 11. E. G. Swift. 1893. p. 702., quoting the British Medical Journal
  7. ^ Pellaprat, Henri-Paul (1966). Modern French Culinary Art. World Publishing Company. pp. 636–638.
  8. ^ Child, Julia; Bertholle, Louisette; Beck, Simone (2001). Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Volume 1. Knopf. pp. 408–413. ISBN 9785559440798.
  9. ^ Beard, James (1949). The Fireside Cook Book: A Complete Guide to Fine Cooking for Beginner and Expert, Containing 1217 Recipes and Over 400 Color Pictures. Simon and Schuster. pp. 124–125.
  10. ^ McNulty, Ian (7 January 2016). "Where Y'Eat: New Orleans Chefs Share Their Love Of Sweetbreads". WWNO. New Orleans. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  11. ^ Knapp, Gwendolyn (9 December 2015). "A Guide To Sweetbreads, The Most Ragingly Popular Dish in New Orleans: Behold 16 incredible hotspots for sweetbreads in Nola". Eater. New Orleans. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  12. ^ "خوش‌گوشت". Reyhoon.
  13. ^ Sweetbread BBC food
  14. ^ "Sweetbreads", British Food: A History
  15. ^ "Words to the Wise". Take Our Word for It (176): 2. 14 November 2002. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  16. ^ "brede". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/8047453319. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)


 

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