aninra

Tongue in a creamy, dreamy salad

It was my farfar (grandfather) who used to say that he never wanted to eat anything that had been in somebody else's mouth. He always seemed to say this just as the tongue salad was being served - yet he always ignored his own advice as he hungrily tucked in to what was probably one of his favourite smørrebrød.

Tongue: not pretty, but pretty yummy!

OK, I'll admit it right up front - tongue isn't my favourite smørrebrød to make, mainly because the actual preparation is pretty gross - I mean you can see where the tongue was ripped from the poor beast's head - ugh! And you can make out it's taste buds for heaven's sake. But soldiering on through the gnarly bits is worth it, as tongue is a tender, tasty cut of meat and goes very well on Danish rye bread in a number of different preparations - and, of course, washed down with cold Danish lager!

The most traditional manner of consuming tongue is in tongue salad, with finely chopped veal of beef tongue mixed into a creamy concoction that has a citrusy tanginess that stands up well to the meatiness of tongue. 

There are, however, other was of enjoying tongue. For instance, have it with a little Italiensk salat (recipe here), or even prepared in the manner of roast beef with horseradish and fried onions (recipe here). In all cases, it should be eaten with hearty, buttered Danish rye bread (recipe here).

You too can enjoy cow tongue smørrebrød in 3 easy steps... 1) Cow 2) Tongue 3) Smørrebrød

H.C. Andersen

Now, making tongue isn't very hard, but it is a bit time-consuming, mainly due to the lengthy simmering times needed to produce the deliciously tender meat. As such, the Danish Degree of Difficulty of Tongue is Medium - Hans Christian Andersen Medium.

As you probably know, Hans Christian Andersen was a tremendously prolific Danish storyteller of the 1800s. Born in Odense in 1805, H.C. wrote fairy tales which were to become international mega smash hits. He is in very rare company indeed when it comes to Danish celebrity... the Wayne Gretzky of Fairy Tale writers (and Aesop would be Mario Lemieux. The Brothers Grimm? Gordie Howe).

H.C. Andersen's stories 

include Thumbelina, The Princess and the Pea, The Little Match Girl, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling, and of course, the Little Mermaid (Den Lille Havfrue). 

The Little Mermaid - Little is right!

Even before Walt Disney made the The Little Mermaid into a household name, she was a star - a life-sized statue in her likeness sits perched atop a rock in Copenhagen's harbour, and is surely one of Copenhagen's most visited tourist attractions. For me, this statue, while pretty, is in a dubious category along with the Mona Lisa, the Manneken Pis and a few other European tourist attractions - iconic, but disappointingly small. I know that makes me seem brutish and uncultured, but I'm just being honest.

If you visit the statue, and I do think it's worth it, you may find that it is closed off to the public. This is due to frequent vandalism that she endures at the hands of her "fans." She's been through it all: pushed into the harbour, doused with paint, set on fire. She's even had limbs severed! Which finally brings me back to cow tongue.   

Yes, it has been severed from a cow, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy eating it. And if you want to enjoy it, here's what you need to do to cook it...

1) First of all, buy a tongue. Most decent butchers will have something - most likely veal. Beef is fine, if they have it, but it takes longer to cook, since it's much larger than veal.

Tongue - Definitely not for the faint of heart

2) Soak it in cold water for an hour or two, then drain.

3) Simmer slowly in a pot with vegetables such as an onion, a couple of carrots, a celery stick, parsley - that kind of thing. You can also add a few herbs and spices like bay leaf, thyme, mustard seed, all-spice.

Simmering tongue - this part is easy

4) Cook the tongue for about one hour per pound of meat - keeping the meat covered in water at all times. A veal tongue generally takes one and a half to two hour to cook. Beef can take much longer.

5) Remove the tongue from the cooking liquid and allow to cool slightly, then remove the thick outer membrane (this is the part that looks like taste buds - yuck!). You want to do this while the meat is still warm. 

Peeling the tongue - this is one of the grosser jobs...

6) Allow the tongue to cool thoroughly, and then slice thinly cross-wise, being sure to remove fatty bits, tough membranous parts, or any other nasty looking stuff. 

7) Prepare the tongue meat in your favourite 

recipe, like Tongue Salad!  Here's what you need to know in order to prepare a nice tongue salad smørrebrød:

smørrebrød