Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The Tasting of the Lambs

After letting the tongues pickle in their jars for 4 days, the moment of tasting truth arrived.  We were very anxious about the final product for a couple of reasons.  First, the pickling spices had turned the brine an unappetizing yellow.  The 90-minute steam canner processing time seemed excessively long, and because the tongues seemed to have actually shrunk during processing, we worried that they looked hard and rubbery.

However, we gathered our courage, whetted our appetites and did our best to approach the tasting with a positive - and hopeful - attitude.

And voila!  They were edible - and then some!  Not at all tough or rubbery, they were surprising tender.  The center parts of the tongue were the best - stringy yet tender, with a robust yet mellow flavor.

 Surprisingly tart, the vinegary brine was a bit stronger than Jeff recalled from ye olde Roget's Pickled Lamb Tongue era.  However, he qualified his culinary review with the caveat that he usually only ate them after drinking quite a bit, so his memory could be a little distorted.

We'll be tweaking the recipe for next year.  Toning down the vinegariness, eliminating the pickling spice, but perhaps using some other spices/flavoring (tba), and packing them more tightly in smaller jars (we used full quart jars).  So, see you next year. And in the meantime, bon appetit!

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