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To Cure and Dry Beef-tongues

This recipe preserves beef tongues by curing in a brine and drying them.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

To Cure and Dry Beef-tongues

Ingredients

Directions

Make the brine

  1. Prepare a brine by boiling water, salt, molasses, brown sugar, and red peppers together.

  2. Skim off any scum and let the brine cool completely.

Cure

  1. Pack the tongues in a large jar or tight firkin and pour the cold brine over them.

  2. Place the seasoned board on top of the tongues and weigh it down with the stone.

  3. Leave the tongues in the brine for 12 days.

  4. After 12 days, remove the tongues and hang them up to drain.

Smoke and store

  1. Smoke the tongues for 2 days until dry.

  2. Store the dried tongues in clean canvas bags or flour sacks in a cool, dry place away from sunlight.

Cook to serve

  1. When ready to use, wash the tongues in 2-3 waters, then boil them in cold water for 6-8 hours until tender, adding boiling water as needed.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

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. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Molasses + peppertop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together897 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,401 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Beef tongues (in the method)
The main protein, which the brine cures and the long simmer makes tender.
Coarse sea salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the meat, preserving it during the long cure.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and depth of flavour to the brine and the cured meat.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps balance the salt in the cure.

The step that matters

Let the brine cool completely before adding the tongues. Warm brine can partly cook the surface of the meat and encourage spoilage, and it cures unevenly. Cooling first keeps the meat safe and the cure even.

“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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