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Creamed Sweetbreads

Creamed Sweetbreads are sweetbreads simmered in stock, then served in a butter‑cream sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Colville, Jessie Henderson. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Creamed Sweetbreads

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the sweetbreads

  1. Soak one pair of sweetbreads in cold, salted water for several hours.

  2. Put them to boil in veal or chicken stock; simmer for twenty minutes.

  3. Take from the fire, and when cool enough to handle, remove all pipes and skin.

  4. Cut in large pieces and make the following sauce.

Make the sauce

  1. In a saucepan, melt one tablespoonful of butter.

  2. Rub into it one of flour and let it bubble until perfectly smooth.

  3. Add slowly one large cupful of rich cream and continue to stir until the sauce is smooth and creamy.

  4. Season with a half teaspoonful of salt and a dash of pepper.

Combine and serve

  1. Turn in the cut-up sweetbreads and heat thoroughly.

  2. Serve on toast or in little bread cups.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

159Calories
1 gProtein
17 gFat
2 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Colville, Jessie Henderson. [from old catalog]. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Pepper + creamtop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together21,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Pepper and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sweetbreads
Provide the tender, delicate meat that is the main component of the dish.
Rich cream
Forms the body of the sauce and gives it a smooth, creamy texture.
Butter
Enriches the sauce and, with flour, forms the base roux that thickens it.
Flour (in the method)
Thickens the butter and cream into a smooth sauce when cooked until bubbling.

The step that matters

Cooking the roux until perfectly smooth. Flour must be stirred into melted butter and cooked until bubbling so the starch is evenly dispersed. Adding cream then thickens the sauce smoothly instead of leaving lumps.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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