Boiled beef tongue with brown sweet and sour sauce, pearl onions and raisins

Thaw the tongue overnight in salted water.

Slice two cups each of the vegetables, roughly.

Tie parsley, thyme, garlic, bay leaves and allspice berries into dampened cheesecloth as a bouquet.

The book calls for scrubbing the tongue with a vegetable brush and soaking two to three hours more; skipped after an overnight soak.

Rinse the tongue and put it in a Dutch oven with water to cover by five inches, salted at one and a half teaspoons per quart.

Bring to a simmer and skim the scum as it rises.

Add the vegetables and the bouquet, put the lid on slightly askew to encourage circulation, and simmer three to three and a half hours.

Melt two tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and add the minced onion, carrot, celery and ham.

Stir until browned, around 10 to 12 minutes.

Add the white wine and reduce by one third of its volume, boiling hard and scraping up the fond.

Add one cup of strained tongue stock, one cup of beef stock, a bay leaf, the raisins and the pearl onions.

Cover and keep simmering until the onions are tender, 40 to 60 minutes.

Mix the cornstarch and Dijon into a paste, stir in half a cup of the cooking liquid, return it to the pan and simmer two minutes until lightly thickened.

The tongue is done when a knife pierces the meat easily; lift it out and plunge it into cold water to cool.

Slit the nubbly skin all around the top circumference and peel the outer layer off with fingers and a knife; trim the membrane and undesirable pieces.

On a carving board, cut several vertical slices off the thick end, then slice on the bias, angling the knife down toward the board, almost horizontal at the tip. Aim for even slices about three eighths of an inch thick.

Stir two to three tablespoons of softened butter into the sauce and reheat carefully.

Arrange the slices down the centre of a hot plate and spoon the sauce with the raisins and onions over the top.