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SHEEP'S TONGUES (au Gratin)

Sheep's tongues may be bought at the tripe shop either fresh or partially boiled. If fresh, they will need to be soaked in salt and water for a couple of hours, and then boiled for two hours. If they have been partially boiled, they will not require to be cooked more than half or three-quarters of an hour, or they may be eaten cold. Boil three or four tongues in as much stock as will cover them, and add a bunch of sweet herbs, a carrot, an onion stuck with two cloves, and a little salt and pepper. When the skin will peel off, take them up and skin them. Make as much good veal forcemeat as will cover the bottom of the dish on which the tongues are to be served. Mix a little minced bacon with this, and moisten with the raw yolks of two eggs and a little of the hot liquor in which the tongues were boiled. Make it hot, spread it on a hot dish, drain off any particles of fat that may float on the surface, and lay the sheep's tongues, boiled, skinned, and split in halves, on the forcemeat. Strain the gravy, pour a little of it over the tongues, and serve the rest in a tureen. Sometimes the forcemeat is soaked in the liquor and rubbed through a hair sieve, and the tongues are gently stewed in the sauce for half an hour, then served on a hot dish with the sauce poured over and round them. Time to boil the tongues, two hours. Probable cost, 4d. each. Sufficient for five or six persons.