Lengua a la Vinagreta (Beef Tongue in Vinaigrette)

• 1 beef tongue, about 1 kg, simmered and peeled
• 3 bay leaves (for the cooking water)
• a few black peppercorns (for the cooking water)
• 3 stock cubes, any flavour (for the cooking water, which is not served)
• 200 ml oil (sunflower or other neutral oil)
• 100 ml white vinegar (up to 30 ml more if you like it sharp)
• Lemon juice: juice of ½ lemon
• Lemon zest: finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• chopped parsley, to taste
• 1 hard-boiled egg, coarsely grated
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Method

The cook speaks Spanish; every step is written here in English. Tap a time to watch that step in the video. For subtitles, tap CC in the video, then Settings › Subtitles › Auto-translate › English.

1. Put a beef tongue of about 1 kg in a large pot, cover with water and add bay leaves, peppercorns and 3 stock cubes. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for at least 1¼ hours (up to 2 hours for extra tender), until a knife slides in and out easily. 0:05
2. Let it cool in its broth. Make a few cuts in the skin and peel it off; it comes away easily. Return the peeled tongue to the broth to finish cooling. 0:45
3. Slice the tongue as thinly as you can. 1:10
4. For the vinaigrette, whisk 200 ml oil with 100 ml white vinegar until it emulsifies. Season with salt and pepper and add the lemon juice and zest, finely chopped garlic and parsley, and the grated hard-boiled egg. Whisk again. 1:22
5. Add the tongue slices and turn them in the vinaigrette (gloved hands work best) until every slice is coated. Refrigerate for 2 hours. 2:10
6. Arrange on a platter and pour all the vinaigrette over to serve, cold. 2:35

Tip. Serves 6 (our estimate from a 1 kg tongue). A Christmas favourite in Uruguay and Argentina; it keeps 3–4 days in the fridge. The vinaigrette is generous: drain some off before serving for a lighter plate.

The method is a summary in our words — the video shows every step.