Sweetbreads

[Henry dV]

I would be very grateful if anyone can help, I shoot a few deer a year, where can I find (or can you post) pictures of the glands, so I can try these beautiful morsels again.

I have been out to a local restaurant and tried open ravioli with chicken and sweetbreads with portabello mushrooms with a truffle velute sauce....... superb.

[Prawncrackers]

I would be very grateful if anyone can help, I shoot a few deer a year, where can I find (or can you post) pictures of the glands, so I can try these beautiful morsels again.

I have been out to a local restaurant and tried open ravioli with chicken and sweetbreads with portabello mushrooms with a truffle velute sauce....... superb.

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Henry, i love sweetbreads, my butcher was kind enough to procure me a load last year. These are about a dozen lamb ones and he said they are specifically from around the throat area. I'm assuming deer sweeetbreads will look similar, hope it helps:

[Henry dV]

Cheers, I`ll have to be careful where I shoot them now.

[jayt90]

Sweetbreads in calves are a growth controller near the pituitary gland, and they shrink, becoming obsolete as the animal grows up.

You would have to kill a very young deer, if that is practical or legal.

[Peter the eater]

Around here, the word sweetbreads refers to the pancreas or thymus gland. They come in lamb and calf (never cow or sheep) and both are affordable delicacies in my book.

Butchers and cooks don't seem to differentiate between the two organs I suppose because they are so similar from a culinary point of view. I wonder about adult wild game - surely they have and use a pancreas, but does the thymus shrink?

[paulraphael]

Around here, the word sweetbreads refers to the pancreas or thymus gland.

I think that's how it is everywhere.

And I always thought it was strange that it refered to both. Do the pancreas and the thymus have anything in common? And if they're different, do people specifically look for one or the other?

Edited February 20, 2008 by paulraphael (log)

[Henry dV]

Sweetbreads in calves are a growth controller near the pituitary gland, and they shrink, becoming obsolete as the animal grows up. 

You would have to kill a very young deer, if that is practical or legal.

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It is both practical and legal here and there is a need to cull a few older does and some yearlings will need to be shot too.

I like to use as much as possible from the animals I shoot, so this is something to look out for. I particularly like to have the liver ASAP simply fried in butter with sage and if possible a few chanterelles. The sweetbreads will be done in a similar vein.

Many thanks for the replies.

[jayt90]

Around here, the word sweetbreads refers to the pancreas or thymus gland.

I think that's how it is everywhere.

And I always thought it was strange that it refered to both. Do the pancreas and the thymus have anything in common? And if they're different, do people specifically look for one or the other?

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The thymus is preferred, but harder to get.

Here is an opposing view http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-sweetbreads.htm

Edited February 21, 2008 by jayt90 (log)

[Henry dV]

jayt90 - Many thanks for that link !

Edited February 21, 2008 by Henry dV (log)

[DCP]

The thymus is preferred, but harder to get.

Here is an opposing view http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-sweetbreads.htm

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