No. 1765

Lambs' Tongues with Olives

Langues d'Agneau aux Olives

Steep and parboil twelve lambs' tongues, then cook them in stock (No. 194a) drain and suppress the white skin that covers them. Line a saucepan with slices of fat pork, range the tongues on top one beside the other, and braise them in a mirepoix stock (No. 419) with Madeira. After they are cooked place them under the pressure of a light weight to cool, then divide them laterally in two; pare nicely and heat in some clear gravy (No. 404), glaze and dress them in a circle, filling the interior with a garnishing of blanched olives combined with Madeira sauce (No. 492) reduced with the stock.

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For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes in shorthand for a brigade with stockpots already on the range; the method is straightforward once the cross-references are stripped out. The hinge is the skin: it must come off while the tongues are still hot from the first cooking, or it will not release cleanly.

Sourcing the tonguesLambs' tongues are a special order from a halal or Middle Eastern butcher, or an old-style whole-animal shop. Each weighs roughly 2 oz; twelve is about a pound and a half of trimmed meat.
"Steep"Soak in several changes of cold water for a few hours, or overnight refrigerated, to draw out blood. Parboiling after that means 10-15 minutes at a bare simmer, enough to firm the surface so the skin can be pulled.
PeelingSlit the underside and strip the whitish outer membrane while the tongues are hot enough to be uncomfortable to hold. Once cooled it grips, and you will lose meat scraping it.
Mirepoix stock, No. 419In Ranhofer's system this is diced carrot, onion, celery and often raw ham or bacon sweated in butter and moistened with stock and wine. Braise the tongues covered at a bare simmer; because they have already been cooked through in stock, start checking early and cook only until a skewer meets no resistance.
Slices of fat porkSheets of unsmoked back fat or fresh fatback, sliced thin. Blanched salt pork works; smoked bacon does not, as its cure will dominate the Madeira.
PressingCool the tongues between two trays under a couple of tins - a pound or two of weight, not a press. This compacts them so the lateral halves hold a clean shape when pared.
Blanched olivesGreen olives, pitted and turned or left whole, dropped into boiling water for a minute or two to pull the brine back. Modern olives are often milder than 1890s barrel-cured stock, so taste first and blanch only if sharp.
The sauceNo. 492 is a demi-glace finished with Madeira. Reducing it with the braising stock is where the dish is made or lost - strain the mirepoix liquid, degrease it thoroughly, and reduce until it coats a spoon before adding the olives.
YieldTwelve tongues split lengthwise gives twenty-four pieces, a garnished circle for six as a first course or four as a main.

A Little History

Ranhofer ran the kitchen at Delmonico's in New York, and The Epicurean (1894) is essentially the house repertoire of a restaurant cooking French food for American money. Lambs' tongues belong to the class of small braised offal that a nineteenth-century French kitchen treated as a delicacy rather than a thrift measure: the labour of steeping, peeling, barding, braising, pressing, paring and glazing is far out of proportion to the cost of the raw material, which is exactly what made it worth putting on a Delmonico's menu. The pairing with olives is a long-standing French treatment for tongue and for duck, the salt and bitterness of the blanched fruit cutting a sauce made heavy with Madeira and reduced brown stock. Note too the cross-references throughout - the book assumes a standing larder of stocks and mother sauces, so almost no recipe in it is self-contained.