Ox-Tongue

[le petit boucher]

I firmly believe we're far too precious about offal, but i'm probably preaching to the converted. I'm privilege to have ready access to such delicious things but that in a fact is a sad truth of the lack of market we have for it in our business.

Thank god for Fergus Henderson et al. who put it back on the map. I wanted to share this little recipe I'm cooking to keep me sane in the "R&D" kitchen working on pie fillings, another story! This is my first recipe I've shared and I'm not even sure if this is the proper form?

First take one ox tongue. This one here is from our principal beef man, William Alexander. Here it is in a sauteuse deep enough to cover it. Included is fresh thyme, white onion, half a bulb of garlic sliced through with skin etc peppercorns and salt. There would have been a bayleaf or two had i had one to hand.

It takes a very long time to poach, so much so that I never bother timing, rather i let simmer and test for "give". With the thick outer membrane it will however remain very firm. When your curiosity is perked stabb it to find out if its done. Here it is poached and drained (discard water)

Now you have the satisfying job of peeling the thick outer membrane to release the sticky flesh.

Now slice into slices as thick as your thumb, starting at the tip of the tongue and lay them out in your chosen pot. As this is a very nostalgic recipe for me, a beaten and cracked old thing seems to suit. As you get to the thicker part of the tongue, remove the lower portion of muscle. You will also notice the lower part of the tongue has other tissue running through it, I remove this only because my grandmother did but it does look ickie.

To follow is the final stage, where the tongue is braised in a tomato sauce with cornichons for crunch and tartness, which I'll update when done.

Edited May 2, 2007 by le petit boucher (log)

[BRM]

How interchangeable are pork and beef tongues? I have a good source for pork tongues and they are smaller.

[Domestic Goddess]

BRM - you can substitute the pork tongues, only they cook a little less longer than the ox ones.

[BarbaraY]

I never cook tongue because I would have to eat the whole thing myself. None of my children, who are all grown, will even taste it. Where did I go wrong?

I especially like it cooked in the Mexican style with a chili sauce.

When I was a child skinning the tongue was one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen

[le petit boucher]

Maybe start'em young? I remeber all of this type of cooking on holidays to grandmothers in France. That was where I really cut my teath in food, digging carrots with my grandfather, going to meet the little charcuterie van that came to the village once a week, eating globe artichokes and so on.

Nostalgia has possibly tinted my memories of it all but it (tongue included) was perfect.

The recipe isn't quite finished but i forgot the cable to upload photos. I'm introducting a friend to it today, the bet is if she likes it she'll eat another favorite of mine, brain. If she doesn't like it I have to eat something "weird" of her choosing.

[BrentKulman]

My wife and I took our then 10 year old daughter to Munich a couple of years ago.

One evening, we ordered tongue in a cream sauce at a restaurant without telling our daughter what we had ordered. She loved it and ate virtually the whole plate. After we informed her of what she had eaten, her attitude changed entirely but the lesson did sink in, although at 12, she would now only admit it in a moment of temporary sanity.

Despite the advances in American dining habits over the last 50 years, offal remains somewhat of a taboo in American kitchens and restaurants. Over the last few years, I have seen a few restaurants pushing the envelope in this area but most are content to react rather than challenge their customers.

[Carrot Top]

One of the few places in the US that you can be sure of getting a bit of tongue offered you is in a good Jewish deli. Here are some directions on how to go about getting the tongue you want, on your plate.

Nice topic, le petit boucher. Looking forward to seeing your next set of photos.

[k43]

The tongue in the pictures hardly looks like it came from a full-grown ox. I think it would be almost twice that size.

My Jewish mother made tongue maybe four times a year. I have no idea whether her Viennese mother taught her or my father's Lithuanian mother taught him to like it and he asked my mother for it.

As a kid, I didn't take the name literally. I thought it was some cut that happened to have an odd name, like eye of rib.

My mother made a "sauce" of coarsely chopped hard-boiled eggs, mustard, chopped scallions and mayo that went very well with the meat.

After two meals, she would make a cracker dip/sandwich spread of the rest by putting it through a meat grinder and adding LOTS of horseradish, mayo and black pepper. I add capers and chopped cornichons.

Unfortunately, my wife can't bear the thought of offal, so I have to get tongue in deli sandwiches. Like any good New York Jewish boy, I prefer the fattier part maybe 2/3 of the way back. Tip is too dry for me.

Edited May 5, 2007 by k43 (log)

[Dignan]

We have a mexican place here that opened up last year, and when they opened, they had tongue tacos. I wasn't surprised when they quit offering offering them. I imagine they simply didn't sell enough of them. I would order them on principle, but with all the accoutrements of a taco, and the way the meat was cut, it was hard to tell them from the beef tacos and they were the same price.

[ludja]

Can't wait to see the rest of your recipe; le petit boucher. Thank you for sharing it and the photos are very helpful also. I haven't tackled making tongue at home myself yet although my Austrian Mom made it several times a year when we were growing up.

The tomatoes and cornichons sound like an interesting combination.

[mizducky]

I too have fond childhood memories of braised beef tongue ... I'm yet another nice Jewish girl from New York, so that's why, unlike many Americans, I actually enjoy such dishes.

I've been overjoyed to discover that the local Asian markets here in San Diego carry beef tongue on a regular basis--mostly frozen, but in the case of tongue it doesn't seem to hurt the quality any. I've also been eyeing the pork and lamb tongues I've been seeing in various ethnic markets--their small size makes them very attractive to me as a single householder. Haven't actually bought any yet, but this topic is reminding me I want to give 'em a whirl.