Tongue sandwiches, mash and the art of mushy peas.

Tongue sandwiches, mash and the art of mushy peas.

My induction to cooking and baking didn’t end there, not only did I learn how to bake I was also shown many traditional dishes that have all but disappeared from the tea table. As in Aunties Jean’s house tea time was the high light of the day, and one of her favourites was in sandwiches was pressed home cooked tongue with beetroot , not to everybodies liking but a fantastic combination of the rich tongue and sweet beetroot in harsh malt vinegar. A glorious combination. A whole tongue can look quite daunting and it does stink! Your perseverance will be rewarded; one tongue will produce many sandwiches of course. However in can be used in many things, thinly sliced in a salad with hard boiled eggs and a sharp vinaigrette it is fantastic, don’t tell your dinner guests, they will love it. It can be served hot with mash and mushy peas with plenty of malt vinegar another favourite of mine. It also keeps in the fridge for a week or you can freeze it pre sliced in between sheets of cling film for when you have a craving!

For many sandwiches, six for a main course

1 salted ox tongue soaked over night and rinsed
1 carrot peeled whole
1 peeled onion studded with clove
1 stick of celery
1 bay leaf
handful of parsley stalks
( I but garlic in but I don’t thing Auntie jean knew what it was)
cold water cover tongue

A very large oven proof pot, she used a an enamel oval dish with a tight fitting lid you might se one in a charity shop if so buy it they are fantastic for this and many other long cooked dishes

Place everything with enough water to cover in large pot, bring to a rapid boil and skim of the scum (there will be loads) Transfer everything to you chosen container with tight fitting lid or tin foil and place in a an oven at 140oc for up to 3 hours check it is cooked buy inserting a knife there should be no resistance have a patience. When cooked allow to rest for twenty minutes then drain and place on a chopping board, Wearing rubber gloves it will be very hot still peel of the skin like peeling a large tongue shaped banana., this must be done when its still hot or the skin will never come off! Then place the tongue on a china dish with a board on top and place a Victorian family bible on top and leave it over night to press. Next morning chill it in the fridge, when its gets to tea time thinly slice and place in white bread sandwiches with thickly sliced beetroot

To serve the tongue as a hot main course with mash and the best mushy peas in the world requires a bit of planning but it’s worth it

For six

The mushy peas

8oz marrowfat dried peas soaked overnight in water
1 carrot peeled
1onion peeled
1 bay leaf
malt vinegar
salt and white pepper freshly ground

When the tongue is half cooked put the big in a large pot with the vegetables and bay leaf. Cover with cold water bring to the boil, skim off the copious amounts of scrum that appear and lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Leave it bubbling away for approximately 1 hour, or until the peas have all but collapsed When they are nice and soft drain off the liquid, leaving enough to give the peas an unctuous lava like quality, discard the veg. Place back on the heat and cook till they have collapsed, season generously with the salt and white pepper (black pepper just looks wrong) and add vinegar to taste, quite a lot of vinegar to go with the rich tongue is a good thing in my book, 5-6 tablespoons.

Now to prepare the mash.

Place as many peeled potatoes as you feel you can eat in to a roomy pan all previously chopped in to similar sized chunks. The type of potato you use should be a a large main crop, variety, Maris piper or Maris barb are good, as are King Edwards a and red Desire, the main to look for is type of potato that is not to young and will have the right texture when it is mashed, so any so called ‘new’ or salad potatoes will not do.

So back to the mash. Place your pot with potatoes covered in cold liberally seasoned water 2tbls spoons per 2 pints is good guide. Most of this salt will not be consumed remember it is there to season the potatoes which are large bland lumps of carbohydrate. Bring to rapid boil and turns down the heat to a gentle simmer for 10-15 minutes till cooked but not falling apart. Drain thoroughly and mash with a masher or put through a food mill if you have one. Now on a low heat and start by adding to a splash of warm milk and some salt. (2-3tsp), I don’t put pepper in mash but doesn’t it stop you, beat that in with a wooden spoon, add cold unsalted butter in small pieces, beating well after each addition. For six 8oz of butter is a good idea but you can add less but it wont taste as good! This may sound a bit long winder but it does produce the best mash, and once you have done a few times it will not seem so arduous.

Now serve up your tongue sliced thickly on a great platter moistened with a little of the cooking liquor. Hand round the mash and mushy peas. Allow people to add more vinegar if they feel the need and hot English mustard in a must!

Mushy Peas and mash….

Mushy peas and a mash two very basic things that we have all eat in various guises, and probably not rely thought much about them. However when made correctly they are two fantastic English dishes much abused which such be treated with the respect they deserve. Mushy peas of course can be served with many things, fish and chips, of fish cakes and my favourite corn beef pie amongst many other things. More on that later.