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Boiled Tongue

A boiled tongue served with cauliflower or Brussels sprouts.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Boiled Tongue

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the tongue if dried for at least 12 hours; if pickled, soak for 2-3 hours.

  2. Place the tongue in a pot with plenty of cold water and the herbs. Bring the pot to a boil gradually. Skim the surface of the boiling liquid.

Cook and serve

  1. Simmer gently until the tongue is tender.

  2. Remove the skin from the tongue. Garnish with cauliflower or Brussels sprouts. Serve the tongue.

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

Tongue
Is the meat itself; long, gentle cooking softens its connective tissue until it becomes tender.
Savory herbs
Add aromatic flavour to the cooking liquid that the tongue absorbs as it cooks.

The step that matters

Simmer gently until tender. Vigorous boiling toughens meat and can break it apart. A gentle simmer lets the connective tissue slowly soften, so the tongue becomes tender without falling apart.

“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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