Sweetbread

Sweetbread is a culinary name for the thymus (also called throat, gullet, or neck sweetbread) or pancreas (also called stomach, belly or gut sweetbread), typically from calf (French: ris de veau) or lamb (ris d'agneau).[1][2][3] 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.

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.
A dish of crusted sweetbreads

The "heart" sweetbreads are more spherical, while the "throat" sweetbreads are more cylindrical.[4] As the thymus is replaced by fibrous tissue in older animals, only pancreatic sweetbreads come from beef and pork.[5] Like other edible non-muscle from animal carcasses, sweetbreads may be categorized as offal, "fancy meat", or "variety meat".[5]: 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.[6][7]

Etymology

The word sweetbread was first attested in the 16th century, but the etymology of the name is unclear.[2] Sweet is perhaps used since the thymus is sweet and rich-tasting, as opposed to savory-tasting muscle flesh.[8] Bread may come from Middle English brede, meaning "roast meat".[2]

Varieties

Sweetbreads are often soaked in salt water, then poached in milk, after which the outer membrane is removed. Once dried and chilled, they are often blanched, sautéed, grilled, or breaded and fried.[9][10] They are also used for stuffing or in pâtés.

In Iran, Sweetbread is a common street food (Persian: خوش‌گوشت, xošgūšt) and is often served as a kebab.[11]

In many Latin American cuisines, such as in the Argentine asado, they are grilled, floured and pan-fried

In Greece, lamb thymus is usually used.

In Turkish cuisine, sweetbread is typically served in bread.

In French cuisine, there are many recipes for sweetbreads.[12]

In Mexican cuisine, sweetbreads are often served with salsa verde.

See also
  • Head cheese, or brawn: typically, meat from the head of a calf or pig

References
  1. "sweetbread". Oxford English Dictionary. March 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  2. "brede". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). 1989.
  3. Spaull, Susan; Bruce-Gardyne, Lucinda (2003). Leiths Techniques Bible (1st ed.). Bloomsbury. p. 451. ISBN 0-7475-6046-3.
  4. EricT (17 May 2012). "What Are Sweetbreads?". culinarylore.com. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  5. Herbert W. Ockerman; Conly L. Hansen (2000). Animal By-Product Processing & Utilization. pp. 65–66, 271. ISBN 1566767776.
  6. W. A. Newman Dorland (1922). The American Illustrated Medical Dictionary. p. 1030 – via Google Books.
  7. The Medical Age. Vol. 11. E. G. Swift. 1893. p. 702., quoting the British Medical Journal
  8. "Words to the Wise". Take Our Word for It (176): 2. 14 November 2002. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  9. "Sweetbread recipes". BBC Food.
  10. "Sweetbreads". British Food: A History. 10 April 2013.
  11. "xošgūšt" خوش‌گوشت. Reyhoon. 24 October 2018 [٢ آبان ١٣٩٧, 2 Ābān 1397 SH]. Archived from the original on 30 October 2018.
  12. Larousse Gastronomique (1961), Crown Publishers (Translated from the French, Librairie Larousse, Paris (1938)), s.v. 'Sweetbread' (p. 945) and 'Offal (calf's sweetbreads)' (p. 678-680)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.