Sweetbreads

These are usually the thymus glands of young animals, but occasionally the pancreatic glands are sold instead. The sweetbreads tend to shrink and toughen once the animal’s diet changes from milk. Sweetbreads come in pairs, joined by a duct. The compact “heart” sweetbread slices evenly and is preferred to the looser, elongated “throat” sweetbread. Calf’s sweetbreads are best.