Sweetbreads [General]

2007 Feb 1
I make so much food at school, I usually can't eat it all myself so I send it into work with my boyfriend and he gives it away to anyone who wants it. One day I sent in some sweetbreads and no one knew what they were. Most people thought they were brains, so my boyfriend went online to get a good definition. What he found was a HUGE misconception all over the internet that they are brains as well. I noticed a few days later that several reviews on restauantthing.com mentioned that they are brains - and this from people who are actually ordering them and eating them. Anyway, I thought I'd post to try to help dispell the myth in case anyone is curious:

Sweetbreads are not brains, they are the "thymus gland" which is located in the throat/neck/gullet(y'know that excess hanging skin stuff on a cow's neck for example?) AND there is also a pancreas sweetbread refered to as belly/stomach/heart sweetbread. Thymus sweetbreads are slightly longer and more irregular, with pancreas sweetbreads being larger and more rounded. Even though the 2 organs have totally different functions, they are still both considered sweetbreads for the purposes of cooking as the preparation, flavour, and texture are similar. The animal must be young - older animals HAVE the organ/gland, however once the animal is over about a year old, the sweetbreads will be mostly fat and won't have a nice texture or flavour. Sweetbreads usually come from calves, lambs and sometimes piglets.

The stomach sweetbread is most prized because of its larger size and oval shape. Some claim that the throat sweetbreads have less flavor than their counterparts. Because the throat sweetbreads are elongated they are usually reserved for dishes like stews and ragouts where they will be presented in small pieces. Lamb sweetbreads are much smaller and have a less delicate flavor compared to veal sweetbreads.


2007 Feb 1
Thanks for posting the cool photo. I knew sweetbreads as thymus glands but not as pancreases -- thanks for the education. Now I should try eating them sometime! ;-)

2007 Feb 1
I assume that by "cool photo" you mean "gross photo". They look much more appealing cooked LOL!

2007 Feb 1
Nice! I'd eat that! Although it does look a bit like a brain... ;-)

2007 Feb 15
Thanks for clearing that up HOT. I had a sweetbread dish at LES FOUGÈRES a couple years ago, and had 'thought' it was pancreas, but had seen in so many places people said it was brains.. I was confused. I usually only get confused like that after a couple bottles of my favourite Amarone....mmmm