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Tongue, Pickled or Salted

Tongues are generally bought ready pickled, but as some cooks like to prepare their own tongues, two or three methods are here given. Of these the simplest is the following. Trim the root, and leave a little of the fat; place the tongue in a deep dish, cover with salt, and let it lie until the next day. Pour off the slime that will have come from it, and rub the meat well with a mixture made of half a pound of salt, half a pound of moist sugar, and two ounces of saltpetre. Turn and rub it every day for a week, renew the pickle, and turn and rub the tongue every day for another week, when it will be ready for use. Or, trim the root, put the tongue in a deep pan, cover with salt, and let it lie for twenty-four hours. Drain off the slime, and rub it with a mixture made as follows. Take three pounds of common salt, a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, three ounces of saltpetre, with a quarter of an ounce each of cloves, mace, and pepper, two table-spoonfuls of mixed herbs finely chopped--thyme, marjoram, bay-leaves, winter savory, and basil. Pound these ingredients in a mortar, and mix them thoroughly. Rub this mixture into the tongue, and turn and rub it every day for twelve days or a fortnight, when it will be ready for use. Or let the tongue lie in salt for twenty-four hours as above. Rub into it a mixture made with half a pound of common salt, half an ounce of bay salt, half an ounce of saltpetre, and a quarter of a pound of moist sugar. Turn and rub it every day for three weeks for a small tongue, four weeks for a large one. Or, make a pickle by boiling a pound of salt, a pound of moist sugar, two ounces of saltpetre, and three ounces of sal prunella in a gallon of water for twenty minutes. Let the brine get cold, then put the tongue in it, and let it lie for a fortnight, and lay a small board on the top to keep the meat under the liquor. This pickle may be used several times if it is boiled occasionally. Tongues are always best when used straight out of the pickle. When this is not convenient, however, they should be taken out, rubbed dry, hung up to keep, and smoked, if liked.