Many people are repulsed by the concept of eating sweetbreads, which is the thymus gland, generally of a sheep. That’s one reason they’re euphemistically called “sweetbreads” — they’re also somewhat sweet in flavor and might be thought to have a bread-like consistency. Because it makes us squeamish, they’re not easy to find on the menus of Houston restaurants. In Europe, however, they are standard fare. The mollejas a la riojana ($6) at La Tapa Tapa Restaurant & Lounge (3202 Marina Bay Dr., Suite J, 281-334-7445) is sweetbreads prepared in the simplest of manners — dipped in flour, then pan-fried in olive oil with just a sprinkling of salt. As a result, the pure, unadulterated flavor of the sweetbreads comes through.
This article appears in Oct 16-22, 2008.