Sweetbreads

Sweetbreads are the glands in the throat of a suckling calf. They are found in the throat of all very young suckling animals, but are more considerable in the throat of the young calf, and even then at the largest are seldom bigger than a man’s fist doubled over. The Sweetbreads are the glands used by the calf in suckling, and are only found in the young calf during the period when it is fed on its mother’s milk. When a calf is turned out to grass, the Sweetbreads or milk glands begin to grow smaller, and in three or four days disappear, no longer standing out in a mass of delicate flesh, but hanging long and soft and flabby. On account of their delicacy, Sweetbreads have always been the object of particular attention of good cuisinieres, because, in a fine, fresh state and with proper preparation, they can be made not only into a most delightful and palatable dish, but are, perhaps, the most recherche of all meat dishes. At least, the Sweetbreads have always been so considered by the French, who set the world the lesson of good eating hundreds of years ago; and the Creole chefs of New Orleans, improving upon old French methods of cooking, as well as originating their own delicious combinations, sustain the verdict of the gourmets of the ancient mother country.