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To Pickle Tongues, &C

A method for pickling fresh tongues using salt, saltpetre, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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To Pickle Tongues, &C

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the tongues

  1. Trim some of the root from the tongues.

  2. Make an incision in the underside of the tongues.

  3. Rub the tongues with coarse sea salt.

Cure

  1. Place the tongues in a covered tub or pan for four days.

  2. Combine 2 parts saltpetre, 1 part coarse sea salt, 1 part coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt'), and 1 part moist sugar.

  3. Rub the tongues with the mixture.

  4. Return the tongues to the pan.

  5. Turn the tongues every second day for ten days until pickled.

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

What each ingredient does

Coarse sea salt
Draws moisture out of the meat and preserves it while seasoning it.
Saltpetre
Converts to nitrite during curing, giving the tongues their pink colour and cured flavour.
Moist sugar
Balances the sharpness of the salt and adds a mild sweetness to the cure.

The step that matters

Turn the tongues every second day. Salt cures penetrate the meat slowly from the surface inward, so turning keeps the cure in even contact and prevents uneven salting or spoilage.

“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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