Pan-Fried Sweetbreads Piccata Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

How should sweetbreads be cooked? ›

Sweetbreads can be served breaded and fried or grilled after a night-long soak in buttermilk, sautéed, poached or broiled.

Sweetbreads are an organ meat with a soft texture and mild, creamy flavor found in several food animals, typically veal calves and lambs. Most sweetbreads are the thymus, a gland that sits in the lower throat of young animals, although occasionally they are taken from the pancreas, located in the abdomen.

The name refers to two glands usually harvested from calves or lambs: the thymus, near the throat, and the pancreas, near the stomach. Both glands have a mild mineral flavor, luxuriously soft texture, and distinct subtle sweetness, which food historians suggest is the origin of their more romantic name.

How Do You Prepare Sweetbreads? Soak. Soaking is the first step in the preparation of sweetbreads to remove some of the impurities. I soak them in just cold water, but others use milk or even buttermilk.

Prep your sweetbreads a day or two before you plan to cook them so they have plenty of time to soak and firm up. Soak sweetbreads in milk to help get rid of the irony, gamey flavor common to most offal meats, then blanch them for a firmer texture.

The first step is to soak the sweetbreads for a few hours in cool, salted water. It's best if you use a few changes of water. This rinses away impurities like blood that can give sweetbreads an off flavor.

One of the best things about sweetbreads is they're pretty much impossible to overcook. Their texture will stay smooth and tender, unlike other more sensitive cuts of meat.

Sweetbreads are rich in vitamin C, potassium, iron, and magnesium. On the downside, they are also rich in purines, so people susceptible to gout are advised not to consume them frequently or in great quantity.

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). Sweetbreads have a rich, slightly gamey flavor and a tender, succulent texture.

Price $7.00/lb. Approximate price per package is $7 each.

Are sweetbreads balls? ›

In reality, sweetbreads are actually a type of offal made from the internal organs from either lambs or calves. While people do of course eat animal testicl*s, testicl*s are most often sold as “fries” or “stones”, while sweetbreads are rather made from glands like the thymus and the pancreas.

sweetbreads are the least offaly tasting — meaning the least "musty" flavored — of all the organ meats." If you'd like a more specific (if possibly less accurate) description, one commenter on Food52 wrote, "It just came to me that they taste a little like white meat chicken tinged with oyster."

The thymus gland, which lies near the heart and is often called the heart sweetbread, is the best one. The pancreas, which is the stomach sweetbread, is used less often than the others. The thyroid gland lies in the throat and is called the throat sweetbread.

What Are Sweetbreads in French? In French cuisine, where sweetbreads are part of the classic repertoire, veal sweetbreads are called ris de veau and lamb sweetbreads are ris d'agneau.

Cover the sweetbreads with milk and soak overnight in the refrigerator. Season the flour with salt and pepper. The next day, bring a pot of water seasoned with salt so it tastes like the sea to a simmer, then add the sweetbreads and cook for 10 minutes.

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 "heart" sweetbreads are more spherical, while the "throat" sweetbreads are more cylindrical.