So, I love Top Chef. I've watched every season, and this season Jonathan got into watching it with me. He loves to cook and I love to eat, so it was a happy medium as far as sharing the remote goes.
Well, a couple of episodes before the final, each chef had to choose all these different proteins to cook with. Well, a couple of people started choosing pork belly and different cuts of beef and fish. Then Stephanie (the eventual winner and my favorite chef) chose something called sweetbreads. It peaked my interest.
On our honeymoon, we got to eat some of the greatest food ever. We ate at the great kind of restaurants where you order for each course: appetizer, salad, entree, dessert. Well, I remembered that at one of my dinners I ordered the sweetbreads as a starter. There was no description(sign of a truly fancy menu). My only thought process was that I love all bread--this is going to be great! I took one bite and realized that something was inside the deep fried breaded outside. It was kind of tough, but I couldn't place it so I just kept eating, but didn't finish my plate. I think I even whispered to Jon that I thought it was some kind of weird fruit.
Well, here we are a few months later and Stephanie picks these sweetbreads and then goes on to explain what they are. These in particular were the thymus glands of veal (or a calf less than a year old). I was stunned. I just sat there thinking of how I bit into those little things and even chewed and swallowed. I honestly was speechless. If you know me and you know how picky I am, you understand my shock.
Two questions:
1. Why couldn't they place a description or at least some kind of tip-off that sweetbreads are nothing like they sound that on the menu? Obviously if I had known they were a gland--I would have avoided.
2. Why is the thymus gland of a veal named sweetbread? Do you think it was some kind of cruel trick they played on the earliest vegetarians?
