To Cure Tongues
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
If desired, cut off the root of the tongue near the gullet. Leave the fat underneath.
Soak the root in salt and water overnight. Clean it well.
Sprinkle the tongue with salt. Let it drain overnight.
Cure
Mix ½ cup of common salt, ½ cup of coarse sugar, and ¼ cup of saltpetre.
Rub the mixture into the tongue daily for a week.
Add another ½ cup of salt after a week.
Label the date on parchment. Tie it on the tongue.
Smoke, dry and cook
Smoke the tongue for three days.
Hang it in a dry place.
Boil the tongue until tender, about five 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; its fat and firm muscle become tender and flavourful through curing and cooking.
- Common salt
- Draws out moisture and preserves the meat while seasoning it during the cure.
- Coarse sugar
- Balances the salt and adds a mild sweetness to the cured flavour.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the colour and curing process of the meat during the long cure.
The step that matters
Rubbing in the cure daily for a week. Salt and curing agents must reach all parts of the thick tongue evenly; skipping days or uneven coverage can leave spots under-cured and open to 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.
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.