Sweetbreads (Sweetbreads are the thymus (throat sweetbread) and the pancreas (heart or stomach sweetbread), especially of the calf and lamb (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten), can be cooked just about any way you can think of. They also happen to be prized by gourmet chefs because of their velvety texture. When choosing Sweetbreads, be sure to pick the white, firm and plump ones.
Up until the time that America starting enjoying the luxury of large supermarkets (mid-1940s), people would butcher their own cattle to eat. Times were hard and money was scarce, absolutely nothing was wasted. This included all parts of the animal. Everything was eaten by the family. Now days, these foods are considered a delicacy.
I never knew what these were until I married and to be quite honest, they are not my cup of tea. I don’t eat them, however my whole family does, even the kiddos. I should probably admit that I’ve never even tried them. I just don’t think I could stomach it, no pun intended. I have been told that they are similar to a bacon taste when grilled. I’ll have to take their word on it.
You can season to taste but we usually use salt and pepper. We grill them and slap them on a tortilla.
Have you had Sweetbreads before and if so, how do you prepare them?
About A Cowboy's Wife
Just ask your butcher to order them they are not hard to find anywhere I bet they have them on hand in the freezer. I got a good laugh when my cooks all of latin backrounds shunned them then walked in the next week with them in Tacos they had no clue they were the same thing just chopped up.
May I suggest that anyone living where cattle are raised and butchered can find sweetbreads by contacting those that do the butchering. I get these parts for free as they are often discarded – livers, hearts, kidneys, cheeks, sweetbreads, tails, and bones. Mighty fine eatin’.
I’m from Wisconsin and I was down in Lerado Texas for a few week’s. And I went to a friends house for a cook out.. I tried them for the first time.. Cooked over Mesquit wood, and had them on a Tortilla.. The best thing I’ve ever had.. Now back in Wisconsin.. Almost no Butcher has ever heard of the sweet breads, and none of them carry them, or know how to get them…. I’m hooked..
i was born and raised in TEXAS and at every cook out we had to have sweatbreads, moved to idaho for six years. i didnt think i could find them up there but of all places i found them under my nose.. wal-mart. look up and down the fresh meat dpt. if the dont have it they do special orders if you request it
you can get them at national beef packing co. kansas city missouri 64163
i get mine from das butcher haus in green forest arkansas phone870-438-6594
OMG! I love sweetbreads! We eat them often in south texas! I live in parker Colorado now and I just can’t find them here or in denver. Any ideas??