Langue de porc braisée au vin rouge - Untested

A farmhouse Burgundy braise — pig's tongue slow-cooked in red wine

Pig's tongue 410 g

Coarse salt (brine) 18 g

Cold water (brine) 1000 g

1 onion (150 g) chopped

200 g Carrot, chopped 

100 g Celery, chopped 

3 bay leaves

25 peppercorns

12 whole cloves

Red wine 750 g (Pinot Noir, Gamay, or BC Okanagan red)

Garlic 12 g, smashed

6 sprigs thyme

3 bay leaves

Lardons / bacon 75 g

Unsalted butter 40 g

Plain flour 18 g

Stock 300 g

Another 12g smashed garlic

3 bay leaves

6 sprigs fresh thyme

Pearl onions or shallots 100 g

Mushrooms 125 g quartered

Flat-leaf parsley 8 g

Day 1 

1. To start the brine, dissolve the coarse salt in a liter of cold water in a bowl or container large enough to submerge the tongue. 
2. Cover and refrigerate for roughly 4 days. This extended brine will give the tongue a lightly cured, petit salé character that works beautifully in this dish.

Day 4 

1. To prepare for the first poach, remove the tongue from the brine and rinse well. 
2. Place in a pot and cover generously with cold water. 
3. Add the onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves and thyme sprigs. 
4. Bring to a boil, skim any grey foam thoroughly, then reduce to a gentle simmer. 
5. The tongue is done when a skewer meets no resistance at the thickest point. For small tongues this can take 1:30hrs and for larger ones up to double that.
6. Peel the skin off the tongues while they're hot (the skin bonds back to the meat as it cools).
1. Lift the tongue out of the poaching liquid (strain the liquid and save as broth, adjust seasoning to compensate for the salt in it). 
2. While still hot (use tongs and a cloth), peel off the thick outer skin starting from the tip — it should come away in large strips. 
3. Trim any gristly root bits. 
4. Work quickly.
7. Place the peeled tongue in a bowl with the red wine , the first round of garlic cloves, smashed, thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Cover and refrigerate overnight — at least 12hours but not exceed 24 hours or the wine acid will begin to degrade the surface texture.

Day 5

1. In a heavy casserole (cast iron is ideal), cook the lardons over low heat until the fat has rendered and the pieces are golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Leave the fat in the pan.
2. Remove tongue from the wine marinade and pat thoroughly dry — reserve the wine. 
3. In the lardon fat over medium-high heat, brown the tongue on all sides until deeply coloured. Don't rush this; 6–8 minutes total. 
4. Remove and set aside.
5. Reduce heat to medium and add the butter to the pot. When melted add remaining 12 grams of garlic cloves and cook 1 minute. 
6. Scatter over the flour and stir into the fat to make a rough roux. 
7. Cook 2 minutes, stirring, until it smells nutty. 
8. Pour in the reserved wine from the marinade, scraping up all the browned bits. 
9. Add the pork or chicken stock. Tuck in remaining bay leaves, thyme sprigs, the browned lardons and the tongue. The liquid should come about halfway up the tongue.
10. Bring to a bare simmer, cover tightly and cook in a 300°F. 
11. Turn the tongue once halfway through. Start checking at the 75 minutes.

OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED

Cool overnight by removing from oven, allow to cool, then refrigerate tongue and sauce together overnight. The sauce will tighten, the fat will solidify and lift off cleanly, and the flavour will deepen considerably. This is the ideal approach — Thursday becomes a simple reheating job.

The Sauce

1. Glaze the pearl onions and mushrooms for about 10 minutes by melting a knob of butter (about 20g) in a wide pan over medium-high heat. 
2. Add the onions or small shallots, peeled with a pinch of sugar and cook, shaking the pan, until golden — about 10 minutes. Remove. 
3. In the same pan, turn up the heat, add another small knob of butter and sear the mushrooms until golden. Season. Set both aside.
4. If possible, remove as much fat as possible from the surface of the cold sauce (easier if refrigerated the day before). 
5. Transfer sauce to a wide saucepan and reduce over high heat until it coats a spoon — about 10 minutes.
6. Taste for salt. 
7. Add the glazed onions and mushrooms to warm through.

Final steps

1. While still cold, slice the tongue on a slight diagonal into 1cm thick pieces (easier to cut nicely when it's cold).
2. Lay slices in the sauce and warm gently over low heat with a lid on for a few minutes. Do not boil. 
3. Arrange on warm plates, spoon sauce, onions and mushrooms generously over the top, and scatter with the parsley. 
4. Serve with egg noodles, boiled potatoes, or crusty bread.

Notes

Thursday timeline: The braise happens Wednesday evening after the overnight wine marinade. Thursday is just glazing the onions and mushrooms (10 min), reducing the sauce (10 min), slicing the cold tongue and warming through (10 min). Dinner is essentially ready in 30 minutes.

The sauce volume: With a smaller piece of meat but full sauce quantities, you will have generous sauce — which is a good thing. Any leftover sauce freezes beautifully and is excellent with pasta, pork chops, or as a base for another braise.

Wine: A BC Okanagan Pinot Noir is a natural choice and would be very much in the spirit of using local ingredients throughout.

Mushrooms: If you have access to any wild mushrooms from the island, use them here — chanterelles or hedgehogs in particular would be exceptional.