I tried beef tongue for the first time last night.
I liked it.
Good friends of ours introduced us to a restaurant called Taqueria Arandas. They rave about the place, and we went there for the first time this past weekend. It was th3 aw3som3 (and cheap! for a family of 5, my budget can appreciate this place!). Went back last night. Any time I try a new place I like to order various things to sample how they do stuff. Wife wanted their posole but it’s a weekend-only thing, so she got their caldo (mmmmm; the broth was heavenly). I opted to try a combo plate with their beef fajita meat and well… why not… I tried beef tongue.
In college I dated a girl who told me how as a kid she used to eat beef tongue sandwiches all the time and loved it. But you know… like my kids said “I don’t want to eat something that can taste me back”. 🙂 Recently a lot of my friends have been talking about beef tongue, especially when it’s prepared Mexican-style. So I figured why the hell not… try it. Life’s short. What’s the worst that could happen? I could not like it, and life moves on.
But it was good!
Tastes… well… like beef! The texture is a little different, a little smoother than muscle-flesh. Sure, I was a little off-put when I examined one piece and saw “taste buds”, but hell, it’s a tongue. The flavor was fine! Older 2 kiddos didn’t want to try it, but Youngest is adventurous and tried it… a little unsure at first, but after he ate a piece he shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal and tasted fine to him.
Really. I dig it. Now of course, I might have just dug how it was prepared, so I’m not ready to generally state that I dig it. I mean, I tried cabrito once and half-liked it, but as I look back I think that maybe it was the way they prepared it because it wasn’t bad but something in my head kept saying “no”. Need to try it more.
Just fun to explore life because hey… life’s short. Get the most out of it that you can, while you can. 🙂
Stuff From Hsoi 
Tongue is quite good when prepared properly. I also like the heart quite a bit.
I love good cabrito.
I just can’t get into organ meat. THAT is a mental block… probably scarring from my childhood when my folks were feeding me liver. I kept telling them it tasted strange, but they figured I was just complaining about liver and kept telling me basically to shut up and eat it. I tried… I tried… but it just tasted terrible. Finally Dad gave in and tasted my liver…… it wasn’t cooked all the way, hence.
I’m scarred. 🙂
Liver isn’t for everyone. For one thing, if it is not fresh, and has ever been frozen, it will have a metallic taste. The best I’ve had was venison or lamb liver, cooked within a couple of hours after butchering.
Heart meat tastes like the meat of the animal. If you brown it lightly, and then braise it for an hour or two, it makes some of the richest, most flavorful stock you have ever tasted.
I will say, I’ve kept all the organ meat from my recent hunts… cooked it up and gave it to puppy-dog, who appreciated it highly. 🙂
Maybe I’ll get a little more adventurous myself… just depends how deep the scar runs. 😉