Boiled Tongue
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Choose a tongue with a smooth skin, indicating it is young and tender.
If dried and hard, soak it for at least 12 hours; if fresh from the pickle, soak for 2 to 3 hours.
Cook and serve
Place the tongue in a pot with plenty of cold water and the bunch of herbs.
Bring to a boil gradually, skim the surface, and simmer gently until tender.
Remove the skin, garnish with cauliflower or Brussels sprouts, and serve.
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
- Provides the main meat; long gentle simmering turns its tough muscle tender.
- Savory herbs
- Flavor the cooking water, adding aromatic savoriness to the meat as it simmers.
The step that matters
Bring to a boil gradually, then simmer gently. Boiling hard toughens and breaks up the meat's proteins and can make the surface cloudy. A slow rise to a boil and a gentle simmer keep the tongue tender and the broth clear.
“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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