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| Sliced tongue in a tomato-Sherry sauce. |
What’s great about cooking a whole beef tongue is its versatility—a multi-lingual meat, so to speak. Tongue makes a great filling for Mexican tacos or for a deli-style sandwich. Give it a tangy caper sauce or a sweet-sour raisin sauce. Add thinly sliced tongue to an Asian noodle bowl. Serve tongue hot or cold. Freeze part of it for another day. Oh, and don’t forget to use the flavorful cooking broth to make the best vegetable soup ever.
Tongue is a popular food in traditional Spanish home cooking. It might be served in a tomato sauce spiked with Sherry or, Andalusian style, in a sauce of crushed almonds (that recipe is here).
This meat requires long cooking, anywhere from 1 ½ to 3 hours (cut cooking time in half with a pressure cooker or Instant Pot), but it is effortless. The result is exceedingly tender meat (small children love it because it’s so easy to chew), pleasantly beefy in flavor, and ever-so moist.
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| Capers add a tangy taste to the sauce. |
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| Potatoes cooked with the tongue can be served alongside. |
To cook tongue
Para preparar la lengua
Whole tongue has no bones, no cartilage, no sinews. The meat is encased in a thick skin. Once cooked, while still hot, the skin is easy to remove—just slit it and peel it off. Once the skin is removed, the tongue can be sliced and refrigerated in some of the cooking liquid. Or leave it whole and slice when ready to use. Carrots and potatoes, if desired, can be cooked with the tongue and served with the finished dish.
1 beef tongue (2-3 pounds)
Salt
Water
1 tablespoon vinegar
Black peppercorns
1 stalk celery
1 onion, quartered
1 leek, sliced
1 or more carrots, peeled
Bunch of parsley
2 bay leaves
Potatoes, peeled (optional)
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| After cooking, save the flavorful broth. |
Wash the tongue in running water. (If the tongue still has blood adhering to it, soak it in salt water for 30 minutes and rinse again.)
Put the tongue in a large pot with enough water to cover it, 10-12 cups. Add 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of peppercorns, the vinegar, celery, onion, leek, carrot, parsley and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook the tongue, turning it once or twice, until tender when pierced with a knife, 1 ½- 2½ hours. If desired, add potatoes during last 30 minutes of cooking.
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| Sliced tongue. |
Remove the tongue from the pot, reserving the broth. When the tongue is cool enough to handle but still warm, slit the skin and peel it off. Slice all or part of the tongue. Add some of the cooking liquid to the sliced tongue and refrigerate until ready to use. Strain the cooking liquid. Save this broth for making sauce or soup. (I like to save the peppercorns too; they add a piquant touch to sauce.)
Honey-Mustard Sauce
Salsa de Miel y Mostaza
Serve this easy sauce with hot or cold sliced tongue.
Makes ¼ cup of sauce to accompany 12 slices of tongue.
1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped scallions
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Stir the honey and mustard together in a small jar. Add the vinegar, salt, pepper, scallions, and parsley. Add the oil, cap the jar, and shake until the sauce is emulsified. Shake again before serving.
Tongue with Tomato-Sherry Sauce
Lengua con Salsa de Tomate y Vino Jerez
Spanish cooks often add an extra dimension by flouring and frying the slices of tongue before adding them to the sauce. Or, you can just add the cooked tongue directly to the sauce and reheat.
Dry Sherry gives the tomato sauce extra flavor. A similar recipe from Galicia (northwest Spain) calls for aguardiente—fire water—a clear grape brandy, instead of Sherry. Reheat the tongue in the sauce and serve hot. Boiled potatoes are good alongside.
Serves 4.
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped red bell pepper
3 cloves chopped garlic
¼ cup dry Sherry
3-4 plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped
½ cup tongue cooking broth + more as needed
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon crushed thyme
12 (¾-inch) slices cooked tongue
Flour for dredging (optional)
1 beaten egg (optional)
Olive oil for frying (optional)
Capers
Chopped parsley to serve
Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat and sauté the onion, bell pepper, and garlic until softened, 5 minutes. Add the Sherry, raise the heat, and cook off the alcohol. Add the tomatoes and fry until somewhat reduced. Add the broth, salt, and thyme. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.
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| Add cooked tongue to the sauce and simmer. |
Scrape the tomato sauce into food processor or blender and process to make a partially-smooth sauce (a few chunks of vegetables are fine). Return the sauce to the pan. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the tongue cooking broth.
Optional: If you wish to fry the tongue, dredge the sliced tongue in flour, dip in beaten egg, and fry the slices quickly in hot oil. Drain and add to the sauce.
Add the slices of tongue to the sauce and simmer until meat is thoroughly heated. Add capers to taste. Serve the tongue and sauce sprinkled with parsley.
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| Use the tongue cooking liquid to make a flavorful vegetable soup. |
Happening tomorrow!
You still have time to sign-up for my presentation, "Al-Andalus: The Enduring Influence of Islamic Culture on Spanish Cuisine," an online event, Sunday, March 22, sponsored by the Culinary Historians of New York. It will take place at 2 pm EDT (New York); 7 pm CET (Spain). Here's the link to register for the Zoom event: EventBrite.com ($12.51 for non-members).
This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking.
Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times. (Hippocrene Books)
Order on IndiePubs (USA)
Use PROMO CODE HIPPOCRENE40 for 40% off on all Hippocrene titles at IndiePubs online bookstore.
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(If you order on Amazon, please give my book a review!)
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