When I was but a lad, my dad used to take me to Karl Ehmer's german deli/butcher in White Plains, New York (
http://www.karlehmer.com/). Many of their tasty treats still stick in my mind (the mini hot dogs, the landjaeger dried sausages, the potato salad). But, above all, I remember the ochsenmaul salad, which was a jar of pickled meat parts (most notably "beef lips") and onions. It grossed me out, but I couldn't help gobbling it up.
With various animal parts in my freezer calling, I decided to give a whirl at making my own version. Not having any beef lips, I grabbed a tongue from the freezer, web surfed for "pickled tongue," and mostly just wung it.
Given my free-wheeling approach and lack of experience cooking tongue, it turned out remarkably well. I'll make a few changes next time (less sugar, defatting the stock, etc.), but overall it definitely brings back the essence of my childhood beef lip salad.
In short, here's what I did: 1) boiled tongue for 20 minutes, then dumped liquid; 2) simmered in fresh water for about 2 hours; 3) peeled tongue, cut out "roots" and darker core meat, and thinly sliced tongue; 4) made pickling solution of vinegar, sugar, garlic, hot peppers, and various spices that sounded fun (cloves, black pepper corns, star anise, caraway seeds, mustard seeds, allspice berries); 5) simmered sliced tongue in mix of pickling solution and stock from boiling tongue for half hour or so; 6) cooled mixture in ice bath and thinly sliced an onion; 7) mixed cooled meat and pickling juice with onions in jar.
Drop by and have a bite, if you dare.....
