Tongue?

[Aggie]

Anyone have recommendations/experience with cooking tongue?  I know of a place I can buy reasonably priced (farmed) bison tongue and was wondering if it's worth a try.

I know there is a rather unfortunate historical precedent of it being considered a delicacy....   

[goat starer]

this is a public forum where children may be present. Please keep your disgusting pecadillos to yourself!

[Aggie]

That's funny, just yesterday I was wondering what armadillo tasted like....
I didn't know you could cross 'em with peccaries. 

Sibling Chatty would probably know, as I think the ranges overlap in her neck of the woods.

[anthrobabe]

That's funny, just yesterday I was wondering what armadillo tasted like....
I didn't know you could cross 'em with peccaries. 

Sibling Chatty would probably know, as I think the ranges overlap in her neck of the woods.

actually that is how many x-rated Arizona and Texas jokes begin

if you are serious--
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1627,153191-232207,00.html

or call Ma Fratelli!!!!!!

[Sibling Chatty]

Armadillo's supposed to be sorta 'gamy'--wonder why??

Supposedly, properly killed and scent glands removed, it's OK stewed. I don't think I wanna find out first hand.

Eatin' possum, to be polite, was bad enough.

Peccaries, AKA javalinas, wild hogs, whatever...edible, gamy, slightly stringy, but mixes OK in venison sausage. (Of course I can say the same for squirrel, too.)

Po' folks eat a lot of stuff you don't find in a supermarket.

I don't wanna think about crossin' an armadillo (AKA Hoover Hog during the Depression) with a javalina, by ANY name. Ick!!

[ivor]

Armadilla are carriers of Leprosy right?

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

So it says here.

Also in South America they used to make charangos but the species are threatened and now are made with wood simulating the shell.

[Lindorm]

Anyone have recommendations/experience with cooking tongue?  I know of a place I can buy reasonably priced (farmed) bison tongue and was wondering if it's worth a try.

I know there is a rather unfortunate historical precedent of it being considered a delicacy....   

Did you ever get to try this?

I personally am quite fond of tongue, not least when it's cold, sliced thinly and served in a salad or in a sandwich. Perhaps some grated horseradish on top, too, or a dollop of mustard? I have cooked both pig and veal tongue, usually just by boiling them in a rich stock (which afterwards can become either a really nice soup or consomme, or demi-glace), and I have also tried smoked reindeer tongue.

I imagine bison tongue would probably be something on the lines of a more "gamey" veal tongue, which sounds very nice.

[Aggie]

No, I didn't - thanks for the reminder.  Not sure I have the bison farm contact anymore, but I believe my favourite smalltime beef producer should also have cheap tongue.  If I get some bison tongue, smoking does sound nice. 

[Griffin NoName]

We used to have ox tongue - mother boiled it very slowly in water. Delicious depending on not being too salty.

[Lindorm]

Here's how I do it:

I normally purchase ox or veal tongues that have already been brined and then vacuum-sealed. Here in Sweden, they are nowadays normally only brined for flavour, and not heavily enough to act as a preservation method, so it is a quite light brine, especially if you compare to old recipes. Thus, I do not bother with letting the tongue lie in water for three days or similar pre-cooking preparations.

Trim and clean the tongue, and give it a quick wash in running cold water. Take a big pot, fill it with water, add the tongue and let it come to a boil with moderate speed. There will be quite a bit of grey foam on the surface, as well as a bit of particles in the water. Take out the tongue, rinse it well under cold running water and set aside. Discard the water from the pot, rinse it and put it on the stove again. Add sufficient water to cover the tongue, a few peeled carrots, some celeriac, an onion or two, some bayleaf,  some allspice and whole white peppercorns, parsley stalks, perhaps some coarse stalks of some nice herbs -marjoram, thyme, lovage, what have you. Maybe a splash of wine?. If you have some demi-glace or stock nearby, it won't hurt a bit to splash some of it in there, too.

Let the whole thing come to a boil, skimming the surface periodically of any foam. Let the tongue boil until it is ready -it should be tender, but still with a bit of spring to it when either squeezed with tweo fingers (careful, it's hot!) or probed with a needle. Take out the tongue and set it aside. Pour the boiling liquid through a chinoise or wet cloth, and then set it on the stove again to reduce a bit. As soon as the tongue has cooled sufficently for you to handle it, make an incision through the length of the skin, and start pulling it off. If you wait until the tongue has cooled down, it is almost impossible to get rid of the skin. You might want to dip your fingers in cold water from time to time.

When the tongue has been "peeled", you can either let it cool in the reduced boiling liquid (taste and correct seasoning first), or serve it warm, as it is. Slice in thinly, and on the bias, from the root towards the tip. Enjoy!

I like to have cold tongue as cold cuts, or as an ingredient in a salad. A pile of thin slices of tongue on some coarse rye sourdough bread, with a bit of horseradish or mustard is lovely! Another favourite is to make a pureed soup of vegetables -potatoes, jerusalem artichokes, perhaps some parsnips or parsley root, with a healthy splash of milk or thin cream in it, and then serve it with a pile of thinly sliced spring onion and veal tongue matchsticks in every bowl.

[Aggie]

Thanks for the tips - I picked up a nice organic beef tongue (fresh) at the farmer's market today.

I'm thinking about using pho spices for the stock.

[Lindorm]

Oohh...

A pho-spiced boiled tongue sounds delicious! 

[Aggie]

Going to boil the tongue tonight; needed to pick up some ginger. I think the pho spicing will do wonders for it, and I'll also get some nice soup stock out of the deal*. I'm on a major spice kick lately (especially the traditionally 'sweet' spices used mostly for baking in the Anglo-American tradition), so this fits in nicely. 

Do you think there`s much worry in overspicing it? I suspect it needs heavier spicing than if one was simply making pho stock, but I don't want to overdo it.

-------------------------------------------------

In addition to boiled tongue, I'm also having grilled hand - slipped in the snow on the deck and 'saved' myself by putting my hand down on the nearest object, which was the top lid of the bbq, while pre-grilling the onions for the stock last night.

It's been a while since I had a second-degree burn.   Seems to be OK today after chilling it in a bag of snow for a couple of hours last night.



_{*alternately, I may reduce it down for a sauce and serve some sliced tongue with fresh pyogo posot (shitake mushrooms) sauteed with spinach or other greens. Mmm....} 

[Lindorm]

I wouldn't worry overly much about overspicing it. Actually, in my experience, you need to be rather heavy-handed with the spices if you want them to give a pronounced and distinct flavour to the meat, as opposed to just "tasting nice". After all, you do remove the outer layer after boiling it, so a lot of the flavour from the stock disappears there.

I usually try to make use of the stock in some way, since it tends to turn out really yummy. Since I mostly buy brined tongues, I do have to keep an eye on the salt level, though -usually the soup turns out just fine without the need to add any salt, but reductions can get a bit too salty sometimes. Since you are using a fresh tongue, that should not pose any problems.

Grilled hand sounds a bit iffy, though. I'd much rather have Fergus Henderson's crispy grilled pigtails!