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I\u2019m often amused and sometimes confused by the way meat and other foods become fashionable and then fall off the radar.\u00a0 I suppose we expect trends in other areas so why should food be any different?\u00a0 Growing up in a butcher\u2019s household all parts of all animals were explored as possible meals and so all types of meat were always \u2018in\u2019.\u00a0 Offal was certainly not off limits and kidneys, liver, hearts, sweetbreads, tripe and tongue were as common in the kitchen as steak and roast beef throughout my childhood.\u00a0 Liver and onions were often served for tea and we were always reminded of just how nutritious and iron rich it was.\u00a0 In fact offal, while very tasty, is generally quite nutritious.\u00a0 The caveat is of course that if the animal isn\u2019t healthy or well fed then the meat it produces will be inferior, but for the purposes of this column we are only talking about well reared beasts.<\/p>\n
As a very small child cooked tongue intrigued me because by the time it got to the plate it bore no resemblance at all to the massive organ that sat inside the mouths of the cows on the farm or even the large, long ox tongues sold to customers in the shop.\u00a0 I can understand how some people would be put off by the visual aesthetic of the ox tongue as it is not the prettiest cut of meat. Then one day I discovered a large pudding bowl in the cold scullery with a plate on the top and a massive rock on top of the plate; a most curious find indeed.\u00a0 On inquiring I discovered it was a tongue, being pressed, ready for the table.\u00a0 Aha!\u00a0 It was a Eureka moment.\u00a0 While Jim Figgerty was the 1970s advertising mascot of the fig roll and was forever enquiring from the TV screen \u201cHow do they get the figs into the fig rolls?\u201d I was wondering how my mother got a massive Ox Tongue to look like a smooth, red Christmas pudding.\u00a0 All had been revealed; it was the pudding bowl mould.<\/p>\n
My main point is that if you choose to cook a tongue and it is the first time you are introducing it to the family, trust me when I say that once finished it won\u2019t look anything like the meat you buy in its raw state.\u00a0 Cooked and laid out as a buffet or picnic meat it will look very appetising and the silky taste when sliced thinly is divine.\u00a0 It is a fantastic food that can be served hot or cold and works so well in many situations.\u00a0 For some reason I seem to remember it mainly as a summer dish. It was served hot the first day and the leftovers were carved and plated as part of a cold meat salad tea, supper or picnic food the next day.<\/p>\n
The main thing to note with tongue or any offal for that matter is that cooking and preparing it is usually time consuming and the process can be quite slow.\u00a0 However, when we look at the taste value, the price points and the inherent nutrition I think it is all worth it.\u00a0 Tongue is suddenly on the radar again.\u00a0 We have had several new enquiries and I notice talk of how to cook tongue buzzing around the food community.\u00a0 I\u2019m thrilled by this as I have always felt it is much underrated and genuinely feel that the reason more people, particularly the younger generation, haven\u2019t tried it is because they don\u2019t quite know what to do with it.<\/p>\n
Well I\u2019m going to tell you what to do with an ox tongue. When you get the tongue home you will need to wash it quite well.\u00a0 I suggest that you scrub it vigorously with a stiff brush.\u00a0 It then needs to be soaked in cold water for several hours or even overnight if time allows.\u00a0 The next morning remove the tongue and discard the water and then place it into a large, deep pot and cover it with water.\u00a0 Bring it to the boil and then skim away any surface scum before adding the prepared vegetables, herbs and spices.\u00a0 It will need to simmer very gently at approximately 45 minutes per lb.\u00a0 For an average ox tongue you could be looking at 3 to 4 hours.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t suggest stabbing the meat to see if it is tender but instead I defer to the great goddess of cooking, Delia Smith who says in her excellent book, Delia\u2019s Complete Cookery Course, \u201cThe tongue will be ready when the skin along the surface is blistered and the T-shaped bone at the root of the tongue comes away easily when pulled\u201d. \u00a0 Once you know the tongue is cooked, remove it from the pot and let it cool before handling it and then strip away all the skin.\u00a0 Curl the tongue and fit it into a snug container.\u00a0 As I mentioned my mother always used a pudding bowl, but a tin or a dish with high sides will work as well.\u00a0 Take the cooking liquid and boil it rapidly to reduce it down. \u00a0 Take about 10fl oz of the stock and add in the gelatine and the port.\u00a0 Pour the whole lot over the tongue, cover the top and place a heavy weight on top to hold it all down.\u00a0 Put it in a cool place and allow it to set, if possible, overnight. When you turn it out it will hold its shape and allow you to carve it easily.\u00a0 You can serve it cold sliced or heat it in a Madeira sauce if you want to eat it warm.\u00a0 Pigs, Calves and Lambs\u2019 tongues are also available and can be treated in the same way as ox tongue.\u00a0 Obviously the smaller tongues won\u2019t take as long to cook but also won\u2019t yield as much meat.<\/p>\n
If you do decide to cook a tongue I\u2019d be delighted to get your feedback.\u00a0 Thanks to modern technology I\u2019m now available via Twitter<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> or email<\/a> and feel free to contact me anytime.<\/p>\n What you need to prepare ox tongue.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We hope you enjoyed reading this post by Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers. Pat is a 5th generation butcher, cook book author and the director of \u00a0James Whelan Butchers with shops in Clonmel, the Avoca Handweavers Rathcoole and Kilmacanogue, Dunnes Stores Cornelscourt, Rathmines and Swords in Dublin.\u00a0Sign up to our newsletter for more updates from James Whelan Butchers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m often amused and sometimes confused by the way meat and other foods become fashionable and then fall off the radar.\u00a0 I suppose we expect trends in other areas so why should food be any different?\u00a0 Growing up in a butcher\u2019s household all parts of all animals were explored as possible meals and so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25],"tags":[39,40],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n