To Cure Tongues. — ( Family Recipe.) — First wash the
Tongue well and perfectly clean, and wipe it pretty dry with a
clean dish cloth. Then rub it well with a little brown sugar,
and afterwards with a dessertspoonful of the Pickle. For the
Pickle take half an ounce each of bay salt, saltpetre, and sal
prunella. Keep the Pickle in a bottle for use. Salt the Tongue
with common salt, and let it lie in the Pickle for one Aveek, turn-
ing it and rubbing it every day. Then take the Tongue out of the
Pickle, dry it a little with a clean dish cloth to prevent its drop-
ping. Dust it well Avith flour and hang it up in a muslin bag.
Tongues are best eaten at the end of a fortnight after they have
been hung up, but they will keep Avell left in the Pickle. If the
Tongues have been hung put them to steep the night before they
are used. If you take them out of Pickle they Avill need steeping
longer. But boil a Tongue for three hours at least, xvhether it
has been hung up or taken out of pickle.
BRAWN.
Brawn, a word of great antiquity in Northern Europe,
originally signified any fleshy and muscular part of the body,
such for instance as the rounded muscles of the thumb. In
212
BRAWN
England, however, Brawn has long been the name for the flesh
of a pig ; even in 1386 Chaucer spoke of “ the Brawen of the
tusked Swyn.” In the language of cookery nowadays Brawn
means a cold preparation of very gelatinous meat, such as a pig’s
head with the ears and tongue. If a calf’s head is used it is
often called hy the old name of Mock Brawn.
The feet of the pig, with the bit of leg just above each,
should always be used, as they make the Brawn much firmer.
In old days Brawn was kept in pickle for several weeks. The
following Family Recipe was given by the cook at Christchurch,
Oxford, in 1808. The cook at Magdalen College used bran
instead of malt.
Pickle for Brawn. — Take double the quantity of water
that Avill be enough to cover the Brawn, add to it two handfuls of
whole malt, let it boil for an hour and a half, then add to it salt
enough to give it a strong relish✪ Pickle for Brawn, and boil it again for an hour
and a half more. Skim it clean, then strain the malt from the
pickle and when the pickle is cold pour it clear from the sediment
into the pan or tub you mean to keep the Brawn in. Make
fresh pickle every fortnight, and rub the Brawn gently with
salt every week.
In these days the Brawn is kept in brine only for a week,
being well basted every day. The feet will take quite seven
hours to cook, so they should be put on first. The head will be
done in four hours. Choose a large saucepan, and just cover
the Brawn with cold water. Bring it slowly to the boil, adding
vegetables and seasoning as for soup. Let it simmer gently till
the Brawn is quite tender, and the meat parts easily from the
bones. Strain the meat from the broth and vege tables, and free
it from every atom of bone. Take two steel forks and tear the
meat Avhilst quite hot into small pieces, seasoning it well with
salt and spiced pepper as you do so. Put the meat as quickly as
possible into the Brawn tin, using a large spoon and pressing
each layer firmly down till the tin is full. Put the tin in the
larder, lay a cloth over it, put a 7 lb. weight on that (supported
by a board), and leave the Brawn for twenty- four hours.
Page 144 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
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To Cure Tongues. — ( Family Recipe.) — First wash the
Tongue well and perfectly clean, and wipe it pretty dry with a
clean dish cloth. Then rub it well with a little brown sugar,
and afterwards with a dessertspoonful of the Pickle. For the
Pickle take half an ounce each of bay salt, saltpetre, and sal
prunella. Keep the Pickle in a bottle for use. Salt the Tongue
with common salt, and let it lie in the Pickle for one Aveek, turn-
ing it and rubbing it every day. Then take the Tongue out of the
Pickle, dry it a little with a clean dish cloth to prevent its drop-
ping. Dust it well Avith flour and hang it up in a muslin bag.
Tongues are best eaten at the end of a fortnight after they have
been hung up, but they will keep Avell left in the Pickle. If the
Tongues have been hung put them to steep the night before they
are used. If you take them out of Pickle they Avill need steeping
longer. But boil a Tongue for three hours at least, xvhether it
has been hung up or taken out of pickle.
BRAWN.
Brawn, a word of great antiquity in Northern Europe,
originally signified any fleshy and muscular part of the body,
such for instance as the rounded muscles of the thumb. In
212
BRAWN
England, however, Brawn has long been the name for the flesh
of a pig ; even in 1386 Chaucer spoke of “ the Brawen of the
tusked Swyn.” In the language of cookery nowadays Brawn
means a cold preparation of very gelatinous meat, such as a pig’s
head with the ears and tongue. If a calf’s head is used it is
often called hy the old name of Mock Brawn.
The feet of the pig, with the bit of leg just above each,
should always be used, as they make the Brawn much firmer.
In old days Brawn was kept in pickle for several weeks. The
following Family Recipe was given by the cook at Christchurch,
Oxford, in 1808. The cook at Magdalen College used bran
instead of malt.
Pickle for Brawn. — Take double the quantity of water
that Avill be enough to cover the Brawn, add to it two handfuls of
whole malt, let it boil for an hour and a half, then add to it salt
enough to give it a strong relish, and boil it again for an hour
and a half more. Skim it clean, then strain the malt from the
pickle and when the pickle is cold pour it clear from the sediment
into the pan or tub you mean to keep the Brawn in. Make
fresh pickle every fortnight, and rub the Brawn gently with
salt every week.
In these days the Brawn is kept in brine only for a week,
being well basted every day. The feet will take quite seven
hours to cook, so they should be put on first. The head will be
done in four hours. Choose a large saucepan, and just cover
the Brawn with cold water. Bring it slowly to the boil, adding
vegetables and seasoning as for soup. Let it simmer gently till
the Brawn is quite tender, and the meat parts easily from the
bones. Strain the meat from the broth and vege tables, and free
it from every atom of bone. Take two steel forks and tear the
meat Avhilst quite hot into small pieces, seasoning it well with
salt and spiced pepper as you do so. Put the meat as quickly as
possible into the Brawn tin, using a large spoon and pressing
each layer firmly down till the tin is full. Put the tin in the
larder, lay a cloth over it, put a 7 lb. weight on that (supported
by a board), and leave the Brawn for twenty- four hours.