Tongue!

tongue: take 1

tongue: take 2

When I first met Stas, I was vegetarian – and the mere thought of eating tongue grossed me out beyond belief. Even after I started eating meet (Valentine’s Day 2007), tongue was still pretty damn disgusting to me. But I’d cook it anyway – cow tongue, veal tongue, pig tongue. You’d be very surprised by the variety of tongues out there! (I know I was).

I don’t remember exactly when I started enjoying tongue, but I’m almost positive that it was during our last trip to Ukraine, in September ‘08. I think because it was one of the few ’safe’ things for me to order at restaurants there – I knew it wouldn’t be fried or covered in sour cream sauce. It would come on a big platter, sliced ever-so-thinly, with a side of horseradish. So tender and juicy and unlike any other flavor. Yum!

Cooking tongue is not for the squeamish – first of all, it has a very strong smell when you boil it (and you need to boil it for a long time), and second of all, you need to peel it once it’s done cooking.

But if you can get past all of that, then you NEED to try this. You won’t believe how GOOD it is. I guarantee that it’ll be come a favorite

Boiled Tongue

I generally don’t use a recipe when I make tongue…

Rinse the raw tongue under cold water/

Place some celery, carrots, parsley, whole peppercorns, salt, 1 bay leaf, and 1 tongue (I used veal tongue) in a large pot. Fill with water.

pre-tongue

veal tongue

Cover halfway and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook for 1.5-2 hours. (larger cow tongue will need to cook for 2-3 hours).

Once it is finished, drain and place tongue in a colander to cool.

after boiling

Peel the outer portion of the tongue.

starting to peel the tongue

after peeling

Slice thinly and serve with horseradish!

The tip is the leanest (and cleanest) part. As you get closer to the other end, there will be some ‘gunk’ to clean off from the underside.

Stas loves the tip! (this used to gross me out SO much!!!)

Enjoy!!!