How to Make Pigs' Pettitoes — The Victorian Way

I trust you are well. Today I'm making pig's pettitoes, a rich stew which will do nicely for the Upper Servant's dinner. For this recipe you will need bacon, onion, mace, peppercorns, a good gravy, pig's trotters, heart and liver, thyme, flour and butter and sippets. This dish uses offal from a pig. We don't serve pork to the family very often here. It's seen as a rather lower class meat. After all, every working class family can afford a pig, especially in the countryside. They are rather practical as you can feed them anything. Meat is expensive compared to potatoes or bread and jam and a lot of people, especially in the slums of the towns, barely see meat from one week to the next. Here at Audley End House, the servants are used to a pound of meat a day, although of course not the fine cuts that we would serve to the family. This is one of Mr Lincoln's favourites and so I thought I would serve it to the Upper Servant's as a treat. I'm making the stock with some beef gravy, onions, the bacon and now I will add my liver and heart. These I will slice thickly so they cook evenly. I'll just use half of the liver. This is a dish that Marianne would normally make as she's in charge of the servant's food but today's her half day and she's gone to London to see her brother. Always make sure that your butcher scalds and de-bristles your trotters or get your scullery made to do it. Now this needs to boil and to cook for about 10 minutes until the liver and heart is done. My trotters need to continue to simmer for just over an hour but in the meantime I'm going to mince the liver and heart. This dish can take a long time but it can sit at the back of the range and cook while you get on with cooking other things. The Upper Servants and the Lower Servants eat slightly different dinners. We both eat dinner together in the servant's hall and then the Upper Ten go off to eat in the housekeeper's room for a second sitting. That's myself, Mr Lincoln, Mrs Warwick, Miss Justice, Lady Braybrooke's personal maid and Lord Braybrooke's valet if he's here. Not ten by any means, that's just what they call us. I like to present dishes that come down from the top table that I can't reuse as well as little titbits like this. It's also a good opportunity to try out new dishes. There, now I shall go and plan tomorrow's menu while my trotters continue to cook. Now the trotters are done it's time to finish the dish. I've split them in half lengthways and I'm going to put them on this hot plate which is full of boiling water to keep them warm. I've always called pigs trotters pettitoes. I used to think because in French petite means small and so it meant small toes but Mr Strutt says it's from the French for small goose. I don't know, I think small toes sounds nicer and what geese have to do with anything I don't know. Sylvia is thickening my sauce with flour and butter and so I'm going to take the minced toasted bread. They're ideal to serve with this dish as the gravy is very rich and everyone will enjoy soaking it up with their bread. And there we go, pigs pettitoes. Ideal for a country supper or an upper servant's dinner.