French cuisine · Meat & Kebab

Beef Tongue with Piquant Sauce

Beef tongue simmered tender in a root vegetable broth, sliced and served with a sharp vinegar-cornichon sauce.

Ingredients · for 6 servings

• 1 kg beef tongue
• 2 carrots
• 1 leek stalk
• 2 onions
• 3 cloves and 2 bay leaves
• 6 peppercorns
• 2 shallots
• 100 ml white wine vinegar
• 300 ml tongue cooking broth
• 80 g cornichons
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 30 g butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Soak the beef tongue in cold water for 1 hr., rinse, and set it to cook in plenty of cold water; bring to a boil, skim off the foam, and add the carrots, leek, the onions studded with cloves and bay leaves, and the peppercorns.
2. Simmer gently over low heat for 2.5–3 hrs. until a fork slides in without resistance; dip the tongue briefly in cold water and peel off the skin from the tip while it's still hot.
3. Measure out 300 ml of the cooking broth through a sieve and set aside, keeping the tongue warm in the remaining broth.
4. For the sauce, melt the butter, sauté the finely diced shallots for 3 min. until translucent, stir in the flour and cook gently for 2 min. without letting it take on color.
5. Deglaze with the white wine vinegar, stir in the measured broth, add the tomato paste and simmer the sauce uncovered for 10 min. until it thickens slightly.
6. Stir in the finely chopped cornichons, season sharply with salt and pepper, and serve the tongue, sliced 1 cm thick, with the hot sauce and boiled potatoes.