Steaks of a Leg of Mutton

History

This dish appears as "Steaks of a Leg of Mutton" in Mary Randolph's The Virginia House-Wife, a housekeeping manual and cookbook first published in 1824. As printed, the recipe directs the cook to cut off the flank, take out the bone, cut the meat into large slices half an inch thick, sprinkle salt and pepper, broil it, and pour over it melted butter with capers; the same text notes that a leg cut the same way and dressed as veal cutlets "is very fine," and that it is "also excellent when salted as beef, and boiled, served up with carrots or turnips". The Virginia House-Wife is regarded as the first regional American cookbook and proved durable in print, republished at least nineteen times before the Civil War. Much of the labor in Randolph's kitchen was done by enslaved Black women, whom scholars credit with influencing how she cooked. Beyond the recipe text and this publishing context, the historical record consulted does not document a specific social, status, or class meaning attached to this particular dish.

Ingredients

• leg of mutton
• salt
• pepper
• butter
• capers

Instructions

1. Cut off the flank from the leg of mutton, remove the bone, and cut the meat into large slices about half an inch thick. Sprinkle the slices with salt and pepper. Broil them until cooked. Pour nice melted butter with capers over the steaks.
2. Alternatively, the leg may be cut and dressed as directed for veal cutlets, which makes a very fine dish. It is also excellent when salted as beef and boiled, then served with carrots or turnips.