Veal kidney

Rognon de veau

What it is

Where a lamb's or a pig's kidney is one smooth lobe, the calf's is a dozen or more lobes fused into a single knobbled mass, and it comes to the counter sealed inside its own hard white fat. Ask for it still jacketed: that fat is the roasting vessel, and a rognonnade is nothing more than the veal loin rolled around the whole thing before it goes in the oven.

In the kitchen

Roast it whole in its fat at 200°C for about 25 minutes, then rest it ten before carving — the jacket bastes it and the lobes stay rosy right through. Carve to a grey centre and it is finished; the texture never comes back.

Goes with

Mustard Shallot Sherry vinegar Watercress Potato Butter Juniper berry Parsley

Same species

Abura-kasu Amourettes (spinal marrow) Spider steak Bastourma Flank steak Beef

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