A cat tongue is a small biscuit (cookie) or

chocolate bar A chocolate bar (Commonwealth English) or candy bar (some dialects of American English) is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily brea ...

available in a number of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an,

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

n, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

n countries. They are known locally as "kočičí jazýčky" ( Czech), Kattentong (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

), "kocie języczki" ( Polish), "langue de chat" (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

), "Katzenzungen" (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

), "lingua di gatto" (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

), "língua de gato" ( Portuguese), "macskanyelv" ( Hungarian), "lengua" or "lengua de gato" (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

), "limbă de pisică" (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

) or "lidah kucing" ( Indonesian). They are shaped somewhatlike a cat's tongue (long and flat).

Cookies (biscuits)

Cat's tongue cookies are sweet and crunchy. The original recipe most likely comes from 17th century

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. They are produced from

egg white Egg white is the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms ar ...

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ''bre ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condim ...

(sometimes) and

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus '' Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla ('' V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the plants produce the fruit from whic ...

. They are

baked Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferre ...

in the

oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...

until cooked. Additional ingredients may include chocolate, citrus, and spices. In European cuisine they are prepared with a ganache, cream or jam filling, and sandwiched together. They are sometimes dipped in chocolate as part of their preparation. In France, the cookie is often served with sorbet or ice cream. In the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...

, cat's tongue cookies are served with

bienmesabe ''Bienmesabe'' (Spanish: "it tastes good to me") is a sweet Spanish dessert prepared with honey, egg yolk, and ground almonds as primary ingredients. Its consistency significantly varies depending upon preparation methods used. The dessert is also ...

, a dessert dish. A cat's tongue mold pan may be used in their preparation, in which cookie dough is placed and then baked. In French, this pan is known as ''langue-de-chat''. This pan is also used in the preparation of ladyfingers and éclairs. The mold is also referred to as a cat's tongue plaque. In Japan, a "langue de chat" is a square sandwich cookie, made of a layer of white chocolate between two square cookies.

Shiroi Koibito is a European-style cookie manufactured and sold by Japanese confectionery maker Ishiya Co., Ltd. in Sapporo, Hokkaido. It consists of chocolate sandwiched between langue de chat. There are two main types: Shiroi Koibito White with white chocol ...

is one famous manufacturer, but langues de chat can be found throughout Japan, including 白い針葉樹 in Nagano and まごころづつみ in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui ...

Chocolate bars

They are produced from

milk chocolate Milk chocolate is a solid chocolate confectionery containing cocoa, sugar and milk. Chocolate was originally sold and consumed as a beverage in pre-Columbian times, and upon its introduction to Western Europe. Major milk chocolate producers incl ...

, dark chocolate and

white chocolate White chocolate is a confectionery typically made of sugar, milk, and cocoa butter. It is pale ivory colored, and lacks many of the compounds found in milk and dark chocolates. It is solid at room temperature because the melting point of cocoa ...

.Lebensmittel-Lexikon Dr. Oetker, 4. Aufl. 2004, Artikel ''Katzenzungen''. Chocolate cat tongues have been in production since before 1900; the Austrian company Küfferle (now owned by

Lindt & Sprüngli Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, doing business as Lindt, is a Swiss chocolatier and confectionery company founded in 1845 and known for its chocolate truffles and chocolate bars, among other sweets. It is based in Kilchberg, where its ...

) has been producing them since 1892. Elsewhere in

, companies including Sarotti,

Hachez Hachez () is a chocolate manufacturing company based in Bremen in northern Germany. It was founded in 1890 by Joseph Emile Hachez and Gustav Linde. History The company was founded by Joseph Emile Hachez and business partner Gustav Linde in 1890 ...

and Halloren make cat tongues. In

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, they are manufactured by

Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) ...

and

Kopenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. In Chile they are made by Costa under the name "Lengüitas de gato" (little cat tongues). Hungarians widely believe that the Swiss-born Hungarian patissier Emil Gerbeaud invented the delicacy in the late 1880s.About Café Gerbaud
Offbeat Budapest
retrieved on 28 October 2021

References

Chocolate confectionery Cookies Biscuits {{confection-stub

Cookies (biscuits)

Chocolate bars

See also

References