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BULLOCK'S TONGUE (a la Francaise)
This is a very superior mode of cooking a tongue. Get together all the trimmings from poultry-heads, necks, etc., some ham, bacon bones, or veal parings. Put the tongue into a large stewpan with these remnants, add a small quantity of water, some pepper and salt, a few cloves, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a good-sized onion. When it has been simmering one hour, throw in a little more water, enough to just cover the tongue; simmer till done, then strain, and make a glaze of part of the gravy; lay it over the tongue, and send to table ornamented with fancily-made cuttings from boiled carrots and turnips. The remainder of the gravy will be of great use to the cook for sauces. Probable cost, 5s. to 6s.
A whole ox tongue braised in its own improvised stock, then glazed with the reduction. The method is sound; only the timings and the shopping have changed.
- What to buy"Bullock's tongue" is simply ox (beef) tongue, 3 to 4 lb. Butchers sell it fresh or cured in brine; if cured, soak it in cold water for several hours or overnight and taste the cooking liquid before you salt it at all.
- The trimmingsPoultry heads and necks, bacon bones and veal parings are the Victorian cook's daily surplus. A pound of chicken wings or a veal knuckle plus a piece of unsmoked bacon does the same job — the point is gelatine, which is what lets the strained liquid set into a glaze.
- Time, which the recipe leaves open"Simmer till done" means 3 to 4 hours at a bare simmer, barely trembling. Tongue is a working muscle; it goes from tough to tender late and will not be hurried by a harder boil, which only shreds the outside.
- The hinge: peel it hotLift the tongue out and skin it while it is still too hot to hold comfortably. The rough outer membrane slips away in one or two pieces; let it cool first and it grips, and you will end up cutting the meat to get it off.
- Sweet herbsA bouquet garni — parsley stalks, thyme, a bay leaf, tied. Four or five cloves is plenty for the pot; more will dominate the glaze.
- Making the glazeStrain the liquid, skim the fat, and reduce hard until it coats a spoon and is glossy — it will be intensely salty, so reduce a barely-seasoned stock rather than a salted one. Brush it over the tongue in two or three thin coats, letting each set.
- ServingA tongue of this size gives 8 to 10 portions. Carve in thin slices across the grain, starting at the tip. The vegetable "fancy cuttings" are turned or stamped rounds of boiled carrot and turnip, arranged around the dish.
- The cost note5s. to 6s. is the price of the tongue and trimmings in Victorian money; Cassell's gives a "probable cost" for most of its recipes. It carries no useful modern equivalent.
Cassell's grand title notwithstanding, à la française here means little more than "braised on a bed of scraps and glazed" — the technique of the French professional kitchen, where a tongue would be cooked in a braisière lined with bacon rind, bones and aromatics and finished with reduced stock. Ox tongue was a familiar dish on the nineteenth-century English table, plain when salted and boiled and respectable enough when glazed and garnished to appear on a cold sideboard beside the ham. What dates the recipe most is its opening instruction. A household that could "get together all the trimmings from poultry-heads, necks, etc." was one that bought birds whole and undressed, and threw almost nothing away; the resulting stock was itself a valuable product, which is why the recipe ends by reminding the cook to keep the rest of the gravy for sauces.