Jellied Tongue
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the tongue in cold water.
Dissolve the salt and saltpetre in warm water and let it cool, then soak the tongue in the brine for 3 to 4 days.
Cook
Remove the tongue and place it in a pot.
Pour boiling water over the tongue and boil for 3 to 4 hours.
Set and serve
Pack the tongue in a mold.
Cover with juice and gelatin dissolved in cold water.
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
- Main meat; long simmering breaks down connective tissue so it turns tender.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out and seasons the meat while curing it in the brine.
- Saltpetre
- Curing agent that helps preserve the meat and keep its color during the brine soak.
- Gelatin
- Sets the cooking liquid into a firm jelly around the meat.
The step that matters
Soaking the tongue in the brine for 3 to 4 days. Salt needs time to penetrate the thick muscle. A shorter soak leaves the centre under-seasoned and poorly cured, while the full soak lets the brine work evenly through the meat.
“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.
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.