Back in October of ‘08, I was busy in the kitchen, working happily up to my elbows during the recipe testing phase for Michael Symon’s…Live To Cook book. It was during this time that I was presented with a recipe for pickled lamb’s tongue – remember this post? I had written about my experience in dealing with an unfamiliar ingredient that on first encounter put me off completely, yet by the end of of the process totally won me over. The recipe was a learning curve – and may very well have been my favorite child – so to speak, as I felt that I grew not only as a cook, but also confirmed and deepened my sentiments of honoring the cooking process as a spiritual, intimate and ritualistic connection – the handling of the tongues of the proverbial sacrificial lamb. A bit tribal – tasting the taster. Even more basic, I learned to turn a “yuk”, into a “yum”.

Ultimately, I was dismayed to hear the editor was not including the tongue recipe in the book – I’m  guessing the two recipes of pig’s head ragu and crispy pig’s ear were two recipes too many out of the mainstream for this particular publisher. Although the book’s co-author, Michael Ruhlman, pleaded a pretty good case for its inclusion, a line was drawn at the lamb’s tongues.

At the time of my previous writing, the recipe content was unpublished and considered property of the publisher, and was not permitted to print it. I may offer it now, with hopes that you are inspired to give the preparation a try. The tongues are delicious, nutritious (nutritionally speaking, lamb’s tongue is good source of  protein and  niacin, and high in vitamin b-12), and small enough to carry into your house neatly tucked into a shopping bag without potentially alarming a neighbor – of which the chance is great when hefting an entire pig’s head.

Pickled Lamb’s Tongue

Pickled lamb’s tongue is very mild, soft and delicate. It is wonderful on a sandwich or as garnish for a salad.

The Cure

6 lamb tongues

2 cups kosher salt

1 teaspoon pink salt

1 cup sugar

Zest of one lemon

2 cloves minced garlic

1 cup fresh picked thyme leaves

1 tablespoon chile flakes

Wash the tongues thoroughly and place in a non-reactive container. Mix the remaining ingredients and coat the tongues with them. Refrigerate, covered, for six days, turning and redistributing the ingredients once each day.

The Pickle

2 cups white wine

2 cups red wine vinegar

2 cups water

1 peeled and sliced carrot

1 sliced onion

2 whole peeled cloves garlic

1 bay leaf

Remove the tongues from the cure, rinse under cool water, and place them in a 3 quart pot;  cover with the remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer, adjust flame and allow to simmer for two hours. Remove the pot from the heat and allow tongues to cool in the liquid. Transfer tongues and liquid to a non-reactive container, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use. The tongues will keep for about one month.

The tongues need to be peeled before eating. I achieved this simple task with the aid of a paring knife: trim a slice of the raggedy base and peel towards the tip of the tongue. Slice meat thinly across the width.

Suspecting the curing and pickling technique could be interchangeable with other lamb parts and animals, I turned to Bob del Grosso, aka  A Hunger Artist, and a man who is no stranger to the dispatching, processing, curing and cooking of all manner of beast, to solicit his expert advice: “I don’t see why this process could not be used for many different cuts of tough and strongly flavored/ “gamey” meats. Here is what comes to mind first: feet, hearts, brisket, shanks, ears of all the major four-legged farm animals, and of course, beef and pork tongue. Venison shanks, and brisket are usually too skinny to bother with but hearts and, if any of the meat cuts is very tough and/gamey this treatment would be okay.”

Dave Whittaker is cooking, eating and blogging  his way through Michael Symon’s book with dedicated enthusiasm at his Live to Cook at Home – check it out!