Langue de Boeuf — Braised Ox Tongue with Sauce Piquante

Ingredients

• 1 (approx. 1.5–2 kg) whole ox tongue, fresh or lightly cured
• For the braise
• 1 (750 ml) dry white wine
• 500 ml brown veal stock, or beef stock, enough with wine to cover
• 1 bouquet garni, including cloves
• 200 g carrot, mirepoix — rough dice
• 200 g onion, mirepoix — rough dice
• 100 g celery, mirepoix — rough dice
• For the sauce piquante
• 250 ml demi-glace
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 100 ml dry white wine
• 30 ml white wine vinegar
• 30 g capers, drained
• 40 g cornichons, sliced into rounds

Method

1. 1
   Place the tongue in a large bowl and cover generously with cold water. Soak for 12–24 hours, changing the water 2–3 times. The water drawn off should run pale and clear by the final change.
2. 2
   Lower the tongue into a large pot of briskly boiling unsalted water and blanch for 15 minutes. Lift out and refresh immediately under cold running water. Working while the tongue is still warm, grip the rough, papillae-covered outer skin at the root end and peel it away in sheets — it should release cleanly in one or two pulls. Trim the root, removing any visible glands, small bones, and coarse connective tissue.
3. 3
   This is the step on which the dish lives or dies: place the cleaned tongue in a close-fitting brasier with the mirepoix and bouquet garni. Pour over the white wine and enough stock to cover. Bring to a bare simmer — 85°C — and maintain this temperature without interruption for 3–3.5 hours. The liquid must never approach a full boil; a lazy, occasional bubble at the surface is the correct sign. Test by inserting a thin skewer into the thickest part of the tongue: it must slide through with no resistance whatsoever, yet the tongue must hold its shape and not be falling apart.
4. 4
   Lift the tongue from the brasier and allow it to cool enough to handle. Slice against the grain into rounds of 1 cm. Each cross-section will reveal a distinctive concentric pattern of muscle fibres. Fan the slices across a warm, lipped serving platter.
5. 5
   For the sauce piquante: sweat the shallots in a small saucepan without colour, deglaze with the white wine and vinegar, and reduce until nearly dry. Add the demi-glace and simmer gently until the sauce coats a spoon. Stir in the capers and cornichons off the heat. The finished sauce should be glossy, sharp on the nose, and thick enough to nap without running freely on the platter.
6. 6
   Spoon the sauce piquante over the fanned tongue slices, napping each round. Serve the remainder at the table. The correct presentation is glossy, the slices lying flat, the sauce pooling at the edges without flooding the platter.