Tongue, Boiled
INGREDIENTS. - 1 tongue, a bunch of savoury herbs, water.
AVERAGE COST, one of moderate size, 3s. 6d.
In choosing a tongue, ascertain how long it has been dried or pickled, and select one with a smooth skin, which denotes its being young and tender. If a dried one, and rather hard, soak it at least for 12 hours previous to cooking it; if, however, it is fresh from the pickle, 2 or 3 hours will be sufficient for it to remain in soak. Put the tongue into a stewpan with plenty of cold water and a bunch of savoury herbs; let it gradually come to a boil, skim well, and simmer very gently until tender. Peel off the skin, garnish with tufts of cauliflowers or Brussels sprouts, and serve. Boiled tongue is frequently sent to table with boiled poultry, instead of ham, and is, by many persons, preferred. If to serve cold, peel it, fasten it down to a piece of board by sticking a fork through the root, and another through the top, to straighten it. When cold, glaze it, and put a paper ruche round the root, and garnish with tufts of parsley.
TRANSPARENT PUDDING. put it into a small pan just large enough to hold it, place some pieces of butter on it, and cover with a common crust. Bake in a slow oven until so tender that a straw would penetrate it, take off the skin, fasten it down to a piece of board by running a fork through the root, and another through the tip, at the same time straightening it and putting it into shape. When cold, glaze it, put a paper ruche round the root, which is generally very unsightly, and garnish with tufts of parsley.
TIME. From 3 to 4 hours in a slow oven, according to size.
SEASONABLE at any time.
Tongues alla Nivernese. (Italian Recipe.) INGREDIENTS for dish for 6 persons.-6 sheep's tongues, 1 pint of stock, 6 small lettuces, 6 carrots, chopped parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg. AVERAGE COST, 4s.
Cleanse the tongues thoroughly, and boil them gently for 2 hours in water with the seasoning and chopped parsley. Take off the skin and let them cool, being careful TIME. A large smoked tongue, 4 to preserve their shape, then lay them in a hours; a small one, 2½ to 3 hours. A large unsmoked tongue, 3 to 3 hours; a small one, 2 to 2 hours.
SEASONABLE at any time.
Tongue, To Carve. Cut a fairly thin slice by passing the knife through in the direction from A to B, as shown in illustration, and continue to cut slices in TONGUE. this way until the best portions of the upper side are served. The fat which lies about the root of the tongue is carved by turning the tongue and cutting in the direction from C to D.
Tongue, To Pickle and Dress a, to Eat Cold. - INGREDIENTS.-6 oz. of salt, 2 oz. of baysalt, 1 oz. of saltpetre, 3 oz. of coarse sugar; cloves, mace and allspice to taste; butter, common crust of flour and water. AVERAGE COST, medium-sized tongue, 2s. 6d.
Lay the tongue for a fortnight in the above pickle, turn it every day, and be particular that the spices are well pounded; stewpan with reduced stock, and, shortly before serving, bring them to a boil and glaze. Place them in a dish so as to form a crown, and between them, a lettuce stuffed with forcemeat, and a carrot cut in the shape of all separately cooked. Fill up the centre space with any vegetable preferred, stewed in a little stock and butter.
TIME.-2 hours.
SEASONABLE at any time.
The core method here is an ox tongue simmered until tender, skinned hot and either served warm or pressed and glazed for the cold table. Most of what needs translating is the salt, the timing and the vessels.
- What tongue to buyThe unqualified "tongue" of this book is an ox (beef) tongue, 3-5 lb, sold fresh, brined or dry-salted. Butchers and online meat suppliers still carry them; sheep's tongues, used in the Nivernese variant, are much smaller and cook in about 2 hours.
- The soaking is not optionalA dry-cured tongue needs a long soak; the recipe says at least 12 hours in cold water, changed once or twice, and better done in the refrigerator than on the counter. A wet-brined one needs 2-3 hours. Skip it and the meat can be unpleasantly salty, though simmering in plenty of fresh water will draw out some of the salt.
- Simmer, never boilThe hinge of the dish. Bring it up slowly, skim, then hold the water at a bare tremble, around 180F. A hard rolling boil tightens the muscle and tends to give a stringier result.
- TimingThe page gives separate times: a large smoked tongue about 4 hours or more, a small one 2½ to 3; an unsmoked tongue less again (the 3 to 4 hours belongs to the slow-oven version further down). Judge by feel: a skewer should meet no resistance at the thickest part, and the skin should slip when pinched.
- Peel it hotLift the tongue out and skin it while it is still too hot to hold comfortably, working from the tip back. Once it cools the skin welds itself on and has to be cut away, taking good meat with it.
- Pressing for the cold tableThe fork-and-board arrangement is a Victorian way of straightening the tongue as it sets. A simpler modern equivalent is to curl the hot tongue into a deep round tin or loaf pan that just fits it, put a plate and a weight on top, and refrigerate overnight; it slices cleanly.
- Glaze and garnishThe "glaze" is a much-reduced meat stock, warmed to brushing consistency and laid on the cold tongue in thin coats until it shines; a warmed aspic or plain gelatine-set stock does the same job. The paper ruche is a frilled cuff of cut paper hiding the root end, purely decorative and easily left off.
- On the pickling instructionsThe curing formula that appears further down the page, with saltpetre and a fortnight in an open pickle, gives no temperature and no weight of meat to match the salt to. Use a current, tested wet-cure recipe if you want to brine your own tongue rather than buy it ready-cured.
- Cost and yield3s. 6d. is a Victorian-era price for a moderate-sized tongue and tells you only that tongue was a mid-range purchase, not cheap offal. A whole ox tongue will feed a large table hot with vegetables, and more again sliced thin for a cold buffet.
Boiled tongue was one of the standing pillars of the English cold table: it kept well, carved into neat even slices with no waste, and looked handsome under a coat of glaze, which is why Mrs Beeton's successors give it as an alternative to ham beside boiled poultry. Tongues often reached the household already salted or dried, since curing is generally said to have been a common way of moving a large, perishable cut through the trade, and the long soak in the recipe is simply the domestic undoing of the butcher's work. The Nivernese variant on the same page carries a French rather than an Italian name: à la Nivernaise, from the old Nivernais province around Nevers, conventionally signals a garnish of turned carrots, which is exactly what the recipe provides.