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Tongue Soup
Take the liquor in which a tongue has been boiled. Strain and skim it, and put it into a stewpan with the trimmings of the tongue, and any bones or trimmings of fowl or veal that may be at hand, or, failing these, two pennyworth of fresh bones. Bring it to the boil, and skim carefully, then let it simmer gently for three or four hours. At the end of that time put with it a large carrot, a turnip, an onion, five or six outer sticks of celery, and a large pinch of cayenne, and let it simmer an hour longer. Strain it, and let it get cool, so that the fat may be entirely removed. Put it again upon the fire, and when it boils throw into it a large carrot and a large turnip, cut into dice, and two table-spoonfuls of the thin end of a dried tongue finely grated. Serve with toasted sippets. Time, three or four hours to boil the liquor with the bones. Probable cost, 2d. per quart, exclusive of the tongue. Sufficient, a quart for four people.
A thrift soup built on the cooking liquor left from a boiled tongue, so the whole thing hinges on how salty that liquor is. Everything else is straightforward stock-making.
- Salt is the whole problemTongue was commonly brined or pickled before boiling, and such liquor comes out aggressively salty. Taste it cold before you commit: if it is at all sharp, dilute with water or unsalted stock by a third or more, and add no salt at any stage.
- Two pennyworth of fresh bonesA trifling sum, i.e. whatever cheap bones the butcher would part with. Use about 1 to 1.5 lb of veal or chicken bones, roasted or raw as you prefer; raw will give the paler broth.
- StewpanA stewpan is a straight-sided saucepan with a lid, not a casserole dish. Any heavy pot of 4 to 5 quarts works; the liquid should barely tremble rather than roll.
- Vegetables go in late for a reasonThe carrot, turnip, onion and celery simmer only the final hour, so they flavour the broth without turning to sediment. The second batch of diced carrot and turnip is the garnish and needs 10 to 15 minutes at a simmer, not longer.
- Grated dried tongueAir-dried tongue is not a supermarket item now. A couple of tablespoons of finely grated or very finely minced cooked tongue from the joint you boiled will do the same job, added off the heat so it does not toughen.
- Chilling and defattingCooling the strained stock completely is not optional here: tongue fat is heavy and sets into a firm cap that lifts off clean. Skimming it hot leaves the soup greasy.
- SippetsSmall triangles or cubes of bread, toasted or fried crisp, served alongside or scattered on top. Cut them from a firm loaf about half an inch thick.
- YieldThe book says a quart serves four, which is a modest first-course portion of about a cup each. Allow closer to a quart and a half for four if it is the main course.
This is a second-day recipe, and it teaches the household economy of never pouring away a cooking liquor. Boiled salt tongue was a staple of the Victorian cold table, pressed into a round tin and sliced thin for breakfast, supper or picnic, and the pot of liquor it left behind was too valuable to waste. The costing of 2d. a quart, exclusive of the tongue, is the point being made -- the expensive part had already been paid for and eaten. The grated dried tongue stirred in at the end is a garnish of the same kind as the grated cheese or hard-boiled egg used elsewhere in the period, adding savour and a little texture to a clear broth that would otherwise be very plain.