To Cure Tongues
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tongue
Remove the root from the tongue near the gullet, leaving the fat underneath.
Soak the root in salt and water overnight.
Clean the root well.
Sprinkle the tongue with salt.
Let it drain overnight.
Cure
Mix ½ cup common salt, ½ cup coarse sugar, and ¼ cup saltpetre (if using).
Rub the mixture into the tongue daily for a week.
Add another ½ cup of salt after a week.
Rub the tongue daily for quicker curing.
Label the date on parchment. Tie the parchment to the tongue.
Smoke, hang and cook
Smoke the tongue for 3 days.
Hang the tongue in a dry place without smoking.
Boil the tongue until tender, about 5 hours.
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
- Neats' tongue
- The main meat that is cured, smoked and then boiled until tender.
- Common salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and preserves it during curing.
- Coarse sugar
- Balances the saltiness and adds mild sweetness to the cure.
- Saltpetre
- Helps the cured meat keep its pink colour and adds to preservation.
The step that matters
Rubbing the cure in daily. Salt must penetrate evenly through the thick tongue to preserve it throughout. Skipping days lets the cure fail to reach the centre, leaving parts poorly preserved and possibly spoiled.
“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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