December 2005The discovery of caul fat

Guess the body part? Well done, veal tongue it is. Not something easily gotten hold of in blighty, so when I saw it on the Vic's Meats price list, it had to be done. Simon H has a recipe for it with 'sauce ravigote' though the recipe I cross referneced in Constance Spry was quite different, shock horror.

I did like the idea of the very plain delivery with a pale sauce and potatoes, so in the end I made a roux and added the stock that the tongues had poached in for a couple of hours. To this I added some fennel leaves. Mustard on the side- delish.
Well, I couldn't buy just one could I? And so ensued my greatest impromptu feast ever. After an afternoon of kayaking (or kakyaking as it shall henceforth be known- thanks Ged) the group was a tad famished. For primi piatti I had a bag of ceps to use up in a risotto. A large block of goose stock in the freezer was just a wonderful base.
The second tongue I had pressed into a container to try cold, though a recipe with grapes and almonds inspired the above which involved a similar roux based sauce, but to it I added chopped and pounded fresh almonds and topped with pomegranate- very pretty indeed, well, I had to make it palatable for the girlies- ho, ho, ho.
For the main I defrosted the 'end of rump' wagyu which I plainly barbecued and served with a mere garnish of wagyu fat fried chips. This may have been up there with the finest beef experience ever.
with verjuice and pasta