soupnancy

What's cooking

The ingredient - Tongue

tongue before and after first cooking

tongue and cheek, with jerusalem artichoke, mustard balsamic sauce

tongue salad, crinkleroot, tomato and crisp onion

My strongest early ‘bad food’ memory involved tongue, circa age 8 or 10. We had been invited over to a friend of my parents’, and ever thrilled to be ‘eating out’, I showed up with a healthy appetite, only to have my mood abruptly change when a big slab of rugged beef tongue was placed before me. It looked like a giant tongue, felt like a giant tongue and was awfully chewy. I remember trying so hard to politely get it down, being brought up with the strictest of table manners, but I was gagging at every bite. The tortuous meal lasted for hours the way I remember it, with much time devoted to contriving strategies to make it disappear without having to ingest it. Whatever - I survived (and ate it all), but didn’t feel the need to taste another tongue for a while.

When I entered cooking school, I knew that as a cook I would have to put any squeamishness aside and bravely taste anew with an open mind. Tongue was easy enough to avoid for years, since as a chef you have to hunt it down, and it has never been a Montreal menu staple. However with offal all the rage, that might soon change. In any case, I’m already a convert. It turns out that the quality of the ingredients and proper cooking make all the difference in the world. I still can’t figure out what my mother’s friend did to make it so horrible, I suspect that it was an old tongue from an old cow and that she cooked it for too short a time.  Or she boiled it vigorously for two days, I don' know.  I think too that lamb and calf’s tongue are a better bet, sweeter tasting, more tender and more approachable than beef tongue. Venison tongue is delicious too. It all just tastes like a delicate braised meat with the bonus that it is traditionally served with zesty sauces that I naturally gravitate towards like ravigote or gribiche. I went on to serve it myself to many trusting friends and special clients who just swooned until they found out what it was. I even turned a few students around with a lamb tongue demo in crinkleroot mustard vinaigrette tiède.

The tradition of tongue is strong in Europe , especially in Britain and in France , and so it must have been here too until relatively recently (before industrial food, nose to tail eating was THE only way in any meat eating culture). The French put it in pot au feu and in sausage, the British in their boiled dinners and bar treats; it is easy enough to find either pickled or smoked, the Basque simmer it in wine and stock with tomato and onion in ‘ Lengua a la Tolosana’ , the Austrians serve it up with bacon, paprika and cream, and in Brazil, they put in in black bean stew.  It really isn’t so weird after all, and the possibilities are endless.

So, while writing up my Valentine’s menu last week, I was musing about sexy foods, and tongue seemed like an obvious choice; maybe as a part of a duo with the cheek (tongue and cheek), how clever I thought.. I knew some people might balk at the idea, so it would have to play a minor role, slipped in alongside other winner tastes. Anything scary sounding flies better as a small bouchée, entrée or part of a duo or trio, so that people can take it or leave it. They taste one thing, two things, like them and hopefully try that sketchy third thing, only to be pleasantly surprised. With a tough sell you believe in, it’s always best be careful with wording too (crepinette sounds better than caul fat, Lobster mushroom better than Dermatose de la Russule), and to throw winner ingredients around it (scallops, lobster, foie gras, proscuitto, homemade pasta etc) – oh the strategies of making a menu subconsciously appealing.. Anyway, I was determined to pull it off and put in on my menu without too many tricks. We have a devoted customer base, generally attract adventurous eaters, and plus I was convinced that people would love it if they tried it.

François, the easy going gourmand, surprisingly didn’t agree; he knew it was going to be rough going. Sure enough, customers have been ewing and opting out since the menu appeared. The phone is ringing off the wall with people fretting over the tongue. Many people just don’t want to try it. If people didn’t come because of a little tongue, then we had a problem. And even if they do, there is bound to be much discussion at the table, some reluctance, demands for menu changes, ie. juice, weeds, headaches.

Maybe I shouldn’t have written it on the menu, but then why bother serve it at all. My initial enthusiasm is now fading, and I’m beginning to regret my stubbornness. I hardly want to be fighting with customers. But now, it’s too late; it’s on the menu for better or for worse. It’s only an itty bitty tongue garnish, c’mon. I even added an extra amuse on the house, and will arm myself with a substitute for the staunchly fearful, and hope for the best. If anything, it will add some excitement to the night. I’ll report back with customer reaction next week.

In the meantime, to the kitchen I go, because tongue takes a couple of days.. Here is the plan of attack.

First locate a tongue or two. We get them directly from the slaughterhouse, but many butchers also carry them. Maison du Roti on Mount Royal always has veal tongue, lamb tongue occasionally. You must degorge it (soak it in several changes of cold water) and clean it first. Then it is simmered in water or court bouillon. Some people just cook it in water quickly (until it can be peeled), and then put it into their braise. It is easier to cook it entirely and then peel and slice, at which point you can and finish in sauce, a pot au feu or stew, or allow to cool in cooking liquid to serve cold.

I plan on serving mine warm in a boletus mustard veal jus spiked with some aged sherry vinegar, thyme and rosemary, alongside a meltingly tender veal cheek in a softer sauce, some Jerusalem artichoke purée, with some tempura pine mushrooms for textural contrast. However, I do really like it sliced thin and served cold in vinaigrette. I actually have a proper recipe to post because I had to elaborate one for my students last year..

Lamb’s tongue in vinaigrette (modified Ravigote)

Yield: 4 servings

1 lamb’s tongue, prepared

1 onion

1 clove

1 bouquet garni

1 L veal stock

15 ml white vinegar

Vinaigrette

15 ml Dijon mustard

60ml cider, sherry or good wine vinegar

1 shallot, minced

30 ml maple syrup

s.q. salt, pepper

40 ml extra virgin olive oil

30 ml chopped fresh herbs: parsley, tarragon, thyme

30 ml capers

½ thinly sliced red onion

Method:

1. Soak tongue in cold water overnight, renewing the water 2 or 3 times. Rub with rock salt and rinse. Or soak in lightly salted water for 1 hour. Scrub and rinse. Trim base, removing fatty parts.

2. Cover tongue with cold water or veal stock, add an onion with a clove, a bouquet garni, and 1 Tbsp vinegar per litre. Gently simmer tongue for 1 1/2-2 1/2hrs (lamb about an hour, calf’s tongue 2 1/2hrs) or until tender. The cooking liquid with make a broth that will be later transformed into a vinaigrette.

3. Remove tongue. Peel by making an incision at the base and skinning it towards the tip. Remove skin. Trim any gristle and/or small bones from root end of tongue . Slice and return to cooking liquid to cool or put straight into vinaigrette.

4. Make vinaigrette with Dijon mustard, cider vinegar, maple syrup, salt, pepper, fresh herbs and extra virgin olive oil. Emulsify with some of the veal tongue stock (100ml). Add capers and and onions. Pour over tongue and allow to marinate at least an hour or two, best overnight.

Serve cold or at room temperature in vinaigrette with some crusty bread and salad. Could be served warm too (maybe just use less cider vinegar), with potatoes, cabbage, beets or root veg. And don’t forget, when in doubt add bacon.

Other tongue recipes:

Alternatively, here are some creative recipes from chefs in NYC:

Pickled beef tongue with fried mayonnaise by Willie Dufresne (WD50) inspired by his dad’s pickled tongue, mayo and red onion sandwich. http://starchefs.com/chefs/rising_stars/2005/newyork/html/tongue_onion_w_dufresne.shtml

Pickled Tongue torchon with porcinis and marcona almonds by Chef Akhtar Nawab of The EU in New York , NY http://starchefs.com/chefs/rising_stars/2007/new_york/html/tongue_a_nawab.shtml

And some more traditional recipes:

Tongue with mustard horseradish sauce

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/103380

A corned tongue recipe: http://recipes.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Corned_Tongue_Recipe

Tongue confit from Paula Wolfert’s Cooking of the Southwest of France