COW-HEEL

1 or more cow's feet, hoof removed
Beaten egg
Bread crumbs
Fat for frying

In the hands of a skilful cook, cow-heel will furnish several good meals; when boiled tender, cut it into handsome pieces, egg and bread-crumb them, and fry them a light brown; lay them round a dish, and put in the middle of it sliced onions fried, or the accompaniments ordered for tripe.
The liquor they were boiled in will make soups.

The Cook's Oracle by William Kitchiner, MD, New York, 1829

Comment: Dr. Kitchiner's book has a fascinating split personality. While the majority of the work is directed towards gourmands of the most exquisite sensitivity, for whom he provides intricate sauces of exotic and expensive ingredients, he has other large sections of the work directed at "the poor." In practical terms the same people--the cook and other household servants--were probably cooking from both portions of the book. The high-toned stuff for her employers and the above-noted castoffs of the butcher shop for herself, her co-workers, and their families.

Wise employers simply accepted the fact that a servant who spent all day cooking for the master had no time to go home and repeat the process, and turned a blind eye so long as the service was adequate and the theft was not blatant.

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