Sweetbreads of Mine: All We Need is Just a Little Patience

Poorly prepared sweetbreads are a gamey, grainy, slimy, horrible mess. Luckily, chefs like Patrick Soucy of Ceia Kitchen + Bar in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and others around the country, take the time to transform this nifty nodule into a creamy, fatty, drool-inducing succulence with just the right amount of crispy crust.

Soucy is a farmer’s chef. He spends his free time hand-picking the restaurant’s vegetables from local farms (often with his son and daughter) and tends his own organic garden. “We make everything in house: sauerkraut, bread, ketchup, and more. [Our dishes] are a showcase of the dedication we put into it.” His sweetbreads are no exception. Sure, he isn’t raising cattle himself, but he takes the time and effort to coax his ris de veau into something transcendent.

His three-day process starts with a traditional overnight soak in iced milk, which removes impurities and softens gamey flavors. The next day he brings a fresh batch of whole milk to a simmer, infusing it with bay, cinnamon, black pepper, clove, star anise, peppercorns, cardamom, and a touch of fennel pollen that’s a “perfect aromatic for the sweetbreads.” Reducing the temperature of the milk to 180°F, which prevents temperature shock and improves overall texture, he adds the soaked sweetbreads, cuts the heat, covers the pot, and steeps them for about 40 minutes (or until medium-rare). The slow poach in warm milk simultaneously tenderizes the proteins and firms the texture, yielding a tender, creamy bite. The lactose in the milk also imparts a slight sweetness to the offal.

Lobster-Octopus Salad with Sweetbreads, Asparagus, Foraged Mushrooms, Preserved Meyer Lemon, Fava Beans, Celery Leaf, Lovage, and Piment d’Espelette

Lobster-Octopus Salad with Sweetbreads, Asparagus, Foraged Mushrooms, Preserved Meyer Lemon, Fava Beans, Celery Leaf, Lovage, and Piment d’Espelette

Lobster-Octopus Salad with Sweetbreads, Asparagus, Foraged Mushrooms, Preserved Meyer Lemon, Fava Beans, Celery Leaf, Lovage, and Piment d’Espelette

Chef Patrick Soucy of Ceia - Newburyport, MA

After shocking the poached sweetbreads in ice, Soucy cleans and gently presses them, which “really shows off the character and great texture sweetbreads can have.” Drying the sweetbreads on a towel and skipping the flour dredge, he heats a healthy dose of clarified butter to the smoke point in his trusty cast iron skillet and sears the sweetbreads to a dark brown. “We’re serving [the sweetbreads] with lobster and octopus and Pheasant’s Back mushrooms, so we like to keep this super crispy for textural contrast,” he says. After forming a golden crust, he bastes in whole butter and finishes with a big pinch of fines herbes.

With some attention to detail and a little patience, Soucy guides his sweetbreads to their shyly sweet, intensely savory, and luxuriously creamy destiny.

Sweetbread Technique:

1. Soak sweetbreads overnight in iced milk.
2. Add aromatics to whole milk and bring to 200°F to infuse. Remove from heat, add Fennel Pollen and cool to 180°F.
3. Add sweetbreads, remove from heat, and steep 40 minutes, or to medium rare.
4. Adjust seasoning and pour entire mixture into bowl of fresh ice. Cool Completely.
5. Clean membrane and trim impurities.
6. Press sweetbreads overnight between two shallow hotel pans.
7. Drain and dry sweetbreads. Season and sear in cast iron using clarified butter.
8. Finish with whole butter and fresh herbs. Baste before plating.

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