Boiled Tongue
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tongue
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 shape
Boil the tongue in water for about three hours.
Once done, immerse it in cold water and remove the outer skin.
Re-truss the tongue in the arch shape and press it sideways between two dishes with a weight on top.
Finish and serve
When cold, trim the tongue smooth or carve the surface to resemble leaves.
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 cut; long simmering makes it tender enough to peel and press.
The step that matters
Boiling for about three hours. Tongue is a tough muscle rich in connective tissue. A gentle, steady simmer over a long time breaks that tissue down into tender meat, while a hard boil can toughen and shred the surface.
“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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