Boiled Tongue
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the tongue in water for two hours.
Run a skewer through the root of the tongue and tie a string around the point of the skewer, fastening it at the other end to shape the tongue like an arch.
Cook and press
Boil the tongue in water for about three hours.
Once done, immerse it in cold water and remove the outer skin.
Truss the tongue again in the shape of an arch and place it between two dishes with a weight on top to press it.
When cold, trim the tongue smooth or carve the surface to represent leaves.
Serve
Serve hot with spinach or cold garnished with veal jellies.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Tongue
- Is the main protein; boiling until tender turns its tough muscle soft enough to slice.
The step that matters
Pressing the tongue while it cools. Pressing under a weight while the tongue cools helps it hold its arched shape and gives a firm, compact texture once sliced cold.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More boiled tongue recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.