Generality
The tongue is a meat food belonging to the group of offal (fifth quarter of the slaughtered animal).
The tongue is a product that requires careful and prolonged cooking, an aspect which, together with the high fat content, gives it a rather limited digestibility. The most famous tongue-based recipe is the "Salmistrata". NB. The tongue can be included among the sizes used in the formulation of sausages to be cooked, as long as it is deprived of the superficial epithelium.
Language: food hygiene
It is important to remember that the oral cavity, second only to the large intestine, is a site rich in bacterial colonies, both physiological and pathological. This also applies to animals and those destined for slaughter are no exception. From this must arise the awareness that the processing of the tongue should be at least "careful", not so much for the contamination of the food itself, but for the risk of cross-contamination towards other already cooked preparations.
Traces (or real colonies) of Yersinia enterocolica, an unwanted pathogen potentially responsible for foodborne illness. It is therefore essential to treat the tongue with caution and in isolation, taking care to sanitize all the support surfaces that come into contact with the raw food.
Furthermore, it is also interesting to note that some insights have brought to light a certain frequency of the accumulation of pond in the calf's tongue.
Cooking and nutritional characteristics of the tongue
The preparation of the tongue is rather painstaking as it requires several precautions before, during and after the heat treatment; depending on the animal, the specific recipe and personal tastes, the tongue can be: peeled and then cooked, cooked and then peeled or cooked and eaten whole (peeling it directly on the plate). Peeling aside, the tongue is a food that need:
- Aging: after slaughter, the tongue must rest several days before cooking, so that the muscle softens until it acquires a soft consistency
- Surface cleaning: in the butcher's shop, the tongue undergoes a preventive cleaning even before maturation; however, even before cooking, a further surface scrubbing with a hard bristle brush and salt never hurts
- Marinade or in any case soaking: some subject the tongue to a short soak in cold water before cooking (about 120 "- to rehydrate it), while others prefer to soak it for half a day, changing the water frequently and adding or not: wine, salt and aromas only at the last hour.
- Prolonged cooking: there are conflicting opinions on the cooking of the tongue. Some suggest doing it in "cold water" and others in "hot water";
Nutritional Composition of Tongue, Bovine - Reference Values of the INRAN Food Composition Tables 
Nutritional values (per 100 g of edible portion)
Edible part 100.0g Waterfall 64.0g Proteins 17.1g Lipids TOT 18.0g Saturated fatty acids - Monounsaturated fatty acids - Polyunsaturated fatty acids - Cholesterol 119.0mg TOT Carbohydrates 0.4g Glycogen 0.0g Soluble sugars 0.4g Dietary fiber 0.0g Power 232.0kcal Sodium 73.0mg Potassium 197.0mg Iron 2.8mg Football 9.0mg Phosphorus 187.0mg Thiamine 0.13mg Riboflavin 0.30mg Niacin 3.90mg Vitamin A 0.0µg C vitamin 3.0mg Vitamin E -
At the end of boiling, the tongue must cool down in the cooking liquid; others prefer to dip it in cold water, but in any case it should never be left exposed to the air. At this point it is possible to peel it. For conservation, the tongue can be placed in the fridge duly wrapped in plastic wrap. in an elementary way (oil, salt, pepper, vinegar, horseradish, sauces, etc.) or it is possible to work it further in a pan on onion, shallot, tomato, artichoke bottoms, etc .; roasted slices of boiled tongue are also appreciated.
The tongue is a highly energetic food whose composition seems similar to a cut of very fat muscle, which is why it cannot be contextualized in the low-calorie diet aimed at reducing overweight; the calories of the tongue are in any case lower than the average of preserved meats.
There are high concentrations of fats and proteins (in almost superimposable quantities) and traces of sugars. The intake of fats, even without any official data on the distribution, probably turns in favor of saturated people who, in association with high quantities of cholesterol, make the tongue a food to be consumed in moderation in case of hypercholesterolemia.
The tongue is also rich in purines, unwanted molecules and to be taken with extreme caution by those suffering from metabolic alterations such as hyperuricemia or overt gout.
From a vitamin point of view, the tongue is very rich in iron (therefore it is indicated in case of iron deficiency anemia), potassium and phosphorus. As far as vitamins are concerned, the water-soluble substances of group B stand out, in particular: thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2) and niacin (vitamin PP).
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