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Dersat El'sane, Algerian Spicy Beef Tongue

A slow‑cooked Algerian beef tongue stew with tomatoes, peppers, carrots, celery, and spices.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Dersat El'sane, Algerian Spicy Beef Tongue

Timeabout 2 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Saute the onions in olive oil for about 15 minutes over medium/low heat.

  2. Add the carrots and celery, season with salt, and cook for about 15 minutes.

  3. Add the tomatoes, peppers, and the peeled tongue.

  4. Cover with water.

  5. Season with salt lightly.

Braise the tongue

  1. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a gentle simmer, add the bay leaves, and cook for about 2 hours.

  2. Remove the tongue from the broth when it is done.

Finish the sauce

  1. Pass the broth and the vegetables through a sieve or a food mill.

  2. Add about 1/2 tablespoon of spices, reduce the sauce by 2/3 at a gentle boil, taste for salt, and adjust if necessary.

  3. Slice the tongue and add it back to the broth.

  4. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice and heat through.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

539Calories
32 gProtein
30 gFat
37 gCarbs

Counts 15 of 18 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 15 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Red Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Turmeric1 tsp ground (3g)9
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Basil5 leaves fresh (2.5g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Leafnot in our table0
Coriandernot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Carrot + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Celery + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,193 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef tongue
Becomes tender and rich-tasting during long, gentle simmering, and gives the sauce body.
Onion
Sweetens and builds a savory base when softened slowly in olive oil.
Tomatoes
Add acidity, moisture and body to the sauce as they break down.
Red bell peppers
Add sweetness and color, and thicken the sauce as they soften.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and body to the broth as they cook.
Celery
Adds savory, aromatic depth to the cooking liquid.

The step that matters

Gentle simmer for the tongue. A rolling boil toughens the meat's connective tissue and can make it stringy. A slow simmer over about 2 hours lets collagen break down gradually, leaving the tongue tender.

Swap the thyme

The recipe marks thyme as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, tomato, pepper, onion, carrot, celery, lemon):

  1. Parsleyfits about as well
  2. Thymethe original
  3. Marjoramfits about as well
  4. Cuminfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, tomato, pepper, onion, carrot, celery, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

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