At Swaledale, our ethos has always been to celebrate the whole carcass, with nose-to-tail cooking and eating at its core. Over the years, we’ve refined recipes that showcase the versatility and unique delights of the fifth quarter, with our Cured Smoked Beef Ox Tongue being a standout example.

We take our exceptional Cured Beef Ox Tongue to the next level by adding a delicate, light smoke. After an artisanal curing process designed to achieve superior eating quality, the ox tongues are smoked for six hours over beech hardwood. The result is a richly flavoured product that has become a staple bestseller in our restaurant community.

Inspired by Chef Val Warner
"Ox tongue is delicious as is, but when smoked moves into another world of delights.

In a split pea and ham soup, replace the dry-cured smoked ham hock or bacon with smoked tongue, and it delivers just as well.

For a lunch that truly wows, try my ox tongue recipe with beetroot and horseradish cream; serve with sourdough bread and this is just the kind of thing you'd hope to find in a remote pub with uncomfortable furniture, a glowing fire and a stone floor.

In Boston beans, replacing the bacon with tongue makes for a mess of beans that are all at once happy, dark, sweet and savoury.

Barbecue sauce is a winner with tongue. Turn the tongue regularly over the grill and paint generously. Then slice and eat on creamed corn.

Sliced thinly and fried with shallots, chillies, garlic, ginger, soya sauce and Szechuan peppercorns is unutterably brilliant.

Poach cubes of smoked tongue amongst kale and barley, and you’ll have a divine broth.

Give the traditional pasty a facelift, by adding smoked tongue to the potato and onion mix. Spray with an industrial bombardment of black pepper, and it could bolster even the most wind-lashed rambler along a coastal path. 

Or browned and braised slowly in a creamy mustard sauce, it’s just heaven when eaten with boiled new potatoes."