Sweetbreads the other white (organ) meat

If you ask someone what sweetbreads are, the first answer after 'disgusting' is usually the cow's pancreas or thyroid or lymph nodes or thymus or throat or some other organ that sounds wrong to eat. It turns out that most of these answers are at least partially correct. The term "sweetbread" refers to the thymus gland AND the pancreas. (Apparently the only ones worth eating are from a calf.) The pancreas or stomach sweetbread is considered more desireable than the thymus gland or throat sweetbread because of its shape and texture but I believe I ate the throat variety the other night and it was delicious, hence this entry. For some odd reason the concept of sweetbreads interested me a few years ago. I must have read some article where an indignant chef stammered on about how foolish people were to ignore this delicacy. I came across them on the menu of a French-ish restaurant in L.A. called Cafe Bizou and the waitress's high praise pushed me over the edge, so I ordered them. They were sauteed in butter and very tasty - mild, tender and only a little peculiar tasting. They must be loaded with some sort of fat or cholesterol because I felt almost dizzy with leadeness afterwards. Every so often in the last couple years at decent restaurants I've come across and ordered them when everything else on the menu was some hackneyed entree - seared something with a glaze, reduction, carmelization, nut and potato encrustacion or gratin..and wilted greens...in a demi-glace. Anyway, they've been good to very good each time I've tried them so my interest was piqued when I saw them on the menu of a local eatery and watering hole called Jocko's. This place is about as formal as a summer camp dining hall but it's a legendary spot, largely because they grill fat steaks over a big oak wood fire and have good prices on drinks. You get to watch the guys tend the grill from behind glass, kind of like you can watch your car get pummelled by brushes in the car wash. Also like the car wash, you anxiously watch your property, hoping everything turns out okay but expecting the worst because the process looks so out of control. After three visits to Jocko's and three Spencer steaks later I have to say it's been outstanding every time. We went to Jocko's the other night with our friend from out of town, Andrew, which was perfect because he's another person who will eat things he probably shouldn't if there's a chance it may taste good. When I mentioned the sweetbreads to him he said "Sounds great! I love sweetbreads!". Somehow I knew he'd respond that way so we ordered them as an appetizer (we couldn't not order steaks for dinner). The interesting angle to me was that they grilled them instead of pan sauteeing them. They took awhile but arrived crunchy on the outside and a bit chewy throughout. Their nugget-like shape makes me think they were the throat kind because the pancreas apparently can be sliced into uniform "steaks". They were so good that I couldn't leave any behind even though I knew I was heaping a lot on my poor digestive tract. Sure enough I didn't sleep so well but it was worth it. They were great. The wife even tried a couple and liked them, and she gets creeped out by the word 'gland' or 'pancreas'. So my humble recommendation is to keep an open mind about the thymus gland or pancreas next time you see the euphimism "sweetbreads" on the menu. If you're fairly certain it's a good restaurant they're worth a try.