Ox Palate

The back third of it is covered with smooth skin, the front two-thirds of it with ridged skin.

Its use in cooking was popular in English country cooking, in classical French cooking and in the genteel cooking of 1800s in America and England.

Larousse cites a 1769 French recipe for “Allumettes de Palais de Boeuf”, thin strips of palate which are battered then fried.

The French classify this as a “red offal” (abats rouges.)

Cooking Tips

Soak in water for several hours, then wash. Then parboil them to make the skin easier to peel, then peel off the bumpy skin. Then simmer under tender, about 2 to 3 hours, then proceed with your recipe.

History Notes

Joseph Cooper, in his 1654 book “The Art of Cookery Refined and Augmented”, gives a recipe for Ox Palate Pie.

Hannah Glasse, in her 1747 book “The art of cookery made plain and easy”, gives the following recipes: To stew ox palates, to ragoo ox palates, to fricassée ox palates, to roast ox palates, to pickle ox palates.

Literature & Lore

OX PALATE

Ingredients:
Ox palate
Bouquet garni
Butter
Onion
Carrot
Stock

Blanch for ten minutes an ox palate, drain it, remove the fat, and scrape it carefully; divide it into two parts, and put the palate into a small stewpan with a pint of stock, half an ounce of butter, a little pepper and salt, a bouquet garni, a small onion, and a small carrot. Let the contents simmer for three hours; remove the palate to a cloth, then clean way any fat, and dish with sharp sauce. — Buckmaster, John Charles. Buckmaster’s Cookery. London: George Routledge and Sons. 1874. Page 222.

Ox Palate Croquettes: Palates cooked tender, cut up extremely small, mixed in thick sauce with the usual croquette seasonings, shaped when cold, breaded and fried.

Ox Palates A La Horly: Cut to shape, run on skewers, breaded, fried; (served with sauce and croutons.)

Palais De Boeuf A La Robert: Palates cut in pieces served with Robert sauce.

Palais De Boeuf A La Ravigote: Ox-palates cooked, cut in pieces, coated with white sauce, breaded, fried; served with Ravigote sauce.

Palais De Boeuf A La Vivandiere: Same preparation as the preceding; served in a brown sauce with onions, butter, port wine, parsley.

From: Jessup Whitehead. The Steward’s Handbook And Guide To Party Catering. Chicago: Jessup Whitehead & Co. 1889.

Sources

Chauveau, Auguste, etc. The Comparative Anatomy of the Domesticated Animals. New York: D. Appleton and Co. 1890. Page 356.