Sweetbread

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).[1][2] 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.[3] As the thymus is replaced by fibrous tissue in older animals, only pancreatic sweetbreads come from beef and pork.[4] Like other edible non-muscle from animal carcasses, sweetbreads may be categorized as offal, "fancy meat", or "variety meat".[4]: 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.[5][6]

Sweetbread is a common Iranian street food and is often served as a kebab.[7] One common preparation of sweetbreads involves soaking in salt water, then poaching in milk, after which the outer membrane is removed. Once dried and chilled, they are often breaded and fried.[8][9] They are also used for stuffing or in pâtés. They are grilled in many Latin American cuisines, such as in the Argentine asado, floured and pan-fried in Greece (sheep's thymus is usually used), and served in bread in Turkish cuisine.

The word "sweetbread" is first attested in the 16th century, but the etymology of the name is unclear.[1] "Sweet" is perhaps used since the thymus is sweet and rich-tasting, as opposed to savory-tasting muscle flesh.[10] "Bread" may come from Middle English brede, meaning "roast meat".[11]

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

References
  1. "sweetbread". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/4658000352. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. Spaull, Susan; Bruce-Gardyne, Lucinda (2003). Leiths Techniques Bible (1st ed.). Bloomsbury. p. 451. ISBN 0-7475-6046-3.
  3. EricT (17 May 2012). "What Are Sweetbreads?". culinarylore.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  4. Herbert W. Ockerman; Conly L. Hansen (2000). Animal By-Product Processing & Utilization. pp. 65–66, 271. ISBN 1566767776.
  5. W. A. Newman Dorland (1922). The American Illustrated Medical Dictionary. p. 1030 – via Google Books.
  6. The Medical Age. Vol. 11. E. G. Swift. 1893. p. 702., quoting the British Medical Journal
  7. "خوش‌گوشت". Reyhoon. Reyhoon.
  8. Sweetbread BBC food
  9. "Sweetbreads", British Food: A History
  10. "Words to the Wise". Take Our Word for It (176): 2. 14 November 2002. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  11. "brede". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/8047453319. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
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