Why it works: Sugar and lime are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,331 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tongue
Clean and wipe the tongue thoroughly.
Rub the tongue with ½ lb of bazar salt and spiced pepper.
Set the tongue aside to drain for the rest of the day.
Make the brine
In a large enamelled saucepan, combine the remaining bazar salt, bay salt, saltpetre, lime juice, vinegar, and cold water.
Boil over low heat, removing scum as it rises until clear.
Let the brine cool.
In a small saucepan, make a syrup with the sugar and a little water, heating gently until smooth and free from scum.
Let the syrup cool, then mix it with the cooled brine using a wooden spoon.
Pour the completed brine into a tub.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Sugar + limetop 21% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together3,331 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bay salt
- Cures the meat and draws out moisture, firming the tongue's texture.
- Bazar salt
- Cures the meat, drawing out moisture and seasoning it through the brine.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the cured meat and gives it its characteristic pink colour.
- Moist sugar
- Balances the salt with sweetness and softens the harsh edge of the cure.
- Lime juice or vinegar
- Adds acidity to the brine, sharpening flavour and aiding preservation.
The step that matters
Boil the brine and skim it until clear. Scum rising from the brine can taint the cure and cloud the liquid. Skimming as it boils keeps the brine clean so the tongue cures evenly and tastes fresh.
“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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