Chef Juliette
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Culinary Explorer
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Sheep’s Tongues
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1323, Sheep’s Tongues, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Langues de mouton make thrift taste deliberate: small tongues braised until yielding, peeled warm, and folded through sauce piquante, where vinegar, cornichons, fond, and butter sharpen their deep, gentle richness.
Main Dishes
French
Weeknight
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
25 min
Active Time
2 hr 20 min cook•2 hr 45 min total
Yield4 servings
Langues de mouton braisées, sauce piquante (braised sheep’s tongues with a sharp cornichon sauce) teach one quiet law of tongue cookery: tenderness must come before peeling, and peeling must happen while the meat is warm. Rush the simmer and the skin clings. Let the tongues cool first and it tightens again. Get that moment right, and this modest cut becomes supple, delicate, and remarkably generous.
The source allows fresh or salted tongues, sends the cook to the ox and calf’s tongue methods, then assumes a suitable garnish is already waiting. That meant a stock never off the fire, a saucier to finish the sauce, and brigade quantities. Here, eight small fresh tongues supply their own concentrated liquor, a four-quart pot holds the braise, and one saucepan builds the sauce piquante. The salamander can stay out of it because nothing is gratinéed. The separate stockpot and sauce station are brigade scaffolding; the bare simmer, warm peeling, and sharp garnish are the dish, so they stay. Fresh tongues fit one cook, one stove, one evening, while salted tongues require an overnight soak.
The finished plate should be glossy and quietly substantial: pale, tender slices under an ochre-brown sauce, with green flashes of cornichon and enough acidity to wake the richness. Before you touch the pan, remember the test that decides everything: a fine skewer must slip through the thick end without resistance, then the skin comes off while the tongue is still warm.
Langues de mouton belong not to one province but to the cuisine bourgeoise luncheon table of Paris and France’s market towns, where the butcher’s offal counter supplied economical cuts for careful cooking. In classical service, an entrée could be a substantial sauced course before the roast, which explains the repertoire’s luncheon language; at the home table, two small tongues per person make a sensible main. Their passage from butcher’s counter to bistro plat du jour followed the same grammar as ox and calf’s tongue: patient simmering, warm peeling, then a bright garnish such as sauce piquante to answer the meat’s richness.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh sheep’s tongues
Quantity
8 (1¾ to 2 pounds / 800 to 900 g total)
cold water
Quantity
10 cups (2.4 L / 2.4 kg), plus more for blanching
yellow onion
Quantity
1 medium (about 1 cup / 150 g)
quartered
carrot
Quantity
1 medium (about ⅔ cup / 100 g)
cut into thick pieces
celery
Quantity
1 large stalk (about ½ cup / 65 g)
cut into thick pieces
garlic
Quantity
2 cloves
crushed
bouquet garni of parsley stems, thyme, and bay
Quantity
1
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g), plus more only if needed
black peppercorns
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 2 g)
dry white wine
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 120 g)
red wine vinegar
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g)
shallot
Quantity
1 large (about ⅓ cup / 50 g)
finely chopped
unsalted butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g)
divided, with the final tablespoon kept cold
plain flour
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 16 g)
tomato paste
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 16 g)
cornichons
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 75 g)
thinly sliced
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 8 g)
finely chopped
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh sheep’s tongues | 8 (1¾ to 2 pounds / 800 to 900 g total) |
| cold water | 10 cups (2.4 L / 2.4 kg), plus more for blanching |
| yellow onionquartered | 1 medium (about 1 cup / 150 g) |
| carrotcut into thick pieces | 1 medium (about ⅔ cup / 100 g) |
| celerycut into thick pieces | 1 large stalk (about ½ cup / 65 g) |
| garliccrushed | 2 cloves |
| bouquet garni of parsley stems, thyme, and bay | 1 |
| fine sea salt | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g), plus more only if needed |
| black peppercorns | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 2 g) |
| dry white wine | ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) |
| red wine vinegar | ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) |
| shallotfinely chopped | 1 large (about ⅓ cup / 50 g) |
| unsalted butterdivided, with the final tablespoon kept cold | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) |
| plain flour | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 16 g) |
| tomato paste | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 16 g) |
| cornichonsthinly sliced | ½ cup (120 ml / 75 g) |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 8 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •4-quart heavy saucepan or small Dutch oven
- •1½-quart saucepan for the sauce
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Tongs
- •Small sharp knife
Instructions
- 1
Clean and blanch
Rinse the tongues well, scrubbing away any blood from the rough skin and checking the root ends for stray bone fragments. Put them in a four-quart heavy pot, cover generously with fresh cold water, and bring to a full boil. Blanch for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse both tongues and pot. This first water carries away the grey foam and strong surface flavors; it is preparation, not the cooking liquor.
- 2
Braise at a tremble
Return the tongues to the clean pot and add enough of the measured water to cover them by about 1 inch. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bouquet garni, salt, and peppercorns. Bring just to a simmer, skim the first foam, then partially cover and hold the liquid at the barest tremble for 1½ to 2 hours. Begin testing at 1 hour 20 minutes because sheep’s tongues vary in size. They are ready only when a fine skewer passes through the thickest part without resistance. If the water drops below the tongues, add more hot water; if the pot boils hard, lower the heat at once because violent cooking tightens the outer flesh before the center softens.
The clock advises, but the skewer decides. A smaller lamb tongue may soften early, while a mature sheep’s tongue can ask for the full two hours. - 3
Peel while warm
Lift out one tongue at a time and let it cool only until your fingers can handle it safely. Slit the skin along the underside with a small knife, then pull away the rough outer covering from root to tip. Trim the coarse throat tissue and any small pieces of cartilage from the root. If the skin grips or tears the meat, stop. Ça se rattrape: return that tongue to the simmering liquor for 10 to 15 minutes, then try again. If it merely cooled too far, rewarm it in the liquor for 5 minutes. Cover the peeled tongues so their surfaces do not dry.
- 4
Concentrate the liquor
Strain the braising liquor through a fine sieve and discard the aromatics. Skim away the surface fat, measure 3 cups (720 ml / 720 g) of liquor into the pot, and boil it steadily until 2 cups (480 ml / 480 g) remain. Taste before reducing further. If the liquor is already salty, use 1½ cups (360 ml / 360 g) of it with ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) water for the sauce instead. Concentration should deepen the fond, not turn salt into the loudest flavor.
- 5
Build sauce piquante
Put the wine, vinegar, and shallot in a small saucepan. Boil until about ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) remains, sharp-smelling but no longer raw, then pour the reduction into a cup. In the same pan melt 2 tablespoons of the butter, stir in the flour, and cook this roux blond (a golden butter-and-flour base) for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste for another minute, then whisk in the 2 cups of hot concentrated liquor a little at a time. Add the wine and vinegar reduction and simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes, until the sauce naps the back of a spoon. If it lumps, pass it through the sieve and return it to the pan. If it grows too thick, loosen it with braising liquor; if thin, keep simmering. Ça se rattrape.
- 6
Slice and finish
Slice the peeled tongues across the grain on a slight bias, about ¼ inch thick, and slip them into the sauce with the cornichons and black pepper. Hold at a bare simmer for 5 minutes, just long enough to heat the meat and let the flavors meet. Take the pan off the heat and monter au beurre (finish with cold butter) by swirling in the remaining tablespoon until the sauce gleams, then add the parsley. Do not boil after the butter goes in. If an oily rim appears, whisk in a teaspoon of cold water until the sauce gathers again. Arrange the slices generously, spoon over the sauce piquante, and bring them straight to the table. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Ask a butcher who handles whole lamb or mutton for the tongues; they are often frozen because so few come from each animal, and frozen is perfectly honest here. Thaw them slowly in the refrigerator before blanching.
- •The source permits salted tongues as well as fresh. Soak salted tongues in plenty of cold water for 12 to 24 hours, changing the water several times, then omit the salt from the braising liquor and proceed exactly as written.
- •Cornichons go in near the finish so they retain their snap and clean acidity. Boiled for the full life of the sauce, they soften and their brightness disappears.
- •Serve the tongues with pommes purée, buttered noodles, or green lentils, all of which catch the sauce properly. A light, peppery red such as Beaujolais has enough freshness for the vinegar and enough fruit for the meat.
Advance Preparation
- •The tongues can be braised and peeled up to 2 days ahead. Chill them in enough strained braising liquor to cover their surfaces, then slice only when ready to finish the dish.
- •The sauce can be made through its gentle simmer 1 day ahead, before adding the cornichons, parsley, and final cold butter. Reheat it slowly, loosen with a little braising liquor, then finish as directed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 300g)
Calories
525 calories
Total Fat
40 g
Saturated Fat
17 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
340 mg
Sodium
850 mg
Total Carbohydrates
9 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
33 g
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