Lamb Trotters in White Sauce
Source: Anonymous, 1920
History
"Manos de carnero en salsa" (lamb trotters in sauce) is a recipe printed in the anonymous Spanish home-cookery book La Mejor Cocinera, Recetas de Cocina, published in Madrid by Editorial Saturnino Calleja. The book is a general household recipe collection that, besides recipes built on the main raw ingredients, also includes a section on table-service etiquette and advice on cleaning household objects. The earliest firmly located edition is around the early 1920s. The recipe itself is a technique-focused preparation of an offal cut. As printed, a dozen lamb trotters are singed, the little tuft of hair in the cleft of the tip is removed, and they are cooked in a white sauce (una salsilla blanca) for four hours; they are then drained on a cloth and boned. Separately, a few spoonfuls of white stock (jugo blanco) are reduced over a good flame together with mushrooms (setas) that have first been passed through lard (manteca); the sauce is bound with three egg yolks, and about twenty grams of fresh lard, a pinch of blanched parsley and lemon juice are added, with the trotters folded into this sauce just before serving. Beyond the book and its printed instructions, the historical record I could open does not document a specific regional origin, a datable point of invention, or any social or class association for this particular dish.
Ingredients
- 12 lamb trotters (manos de carnero)
- white sauce (salsa blanca)
- a few tablespoons white stock (jugo blanco)
- mushrooms (setas)
- 20 grams fresh lard (manteca fresca)
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 thumb-pinch blanched parsley (perejil blanqueado)
- lemon juice (zumo de limón)
Instructions
- Singe the lamb trotters to remove surface hair, then trim away the tuft of hair in the cleft at the tip. Braise them in white sauce (salsa blanca) over moderate heat for four hours until very tender.
- Drain the cooked trotters on a clean cloth and remove the bones carefully.
- In a separate pot, reduce the white stock over good heat. Pass the mushrooms through lard (manteca) briefly and add them to the stock. Bind the sauce with three egg yolks, whisked in carefully to avoid scrambling. Stir in the fresh lard, the blanched parsley, and lemon juice to brighten the flavor.
- Fold the boned lamb trotters into this sauce just before serving.