My Dad was a truck driver for Swift & Co in the East St Louis stockyards. Employees could have "trim" for free. Back then, "trim" included tongue, brains, cheeks, liver, heart, and ribs from beef and pigs. I had a lot of brains and eggs as a kid. Liver, too. But the best was beef tongue. Boiled in salt water, skinned, and then thinly sliced. It's the most delicate, fine-grained meat you can imagine. Possibly the best tasting meat on the animal.
Old Black guys all ran little BBQ shacks. Cinder block and window screening with a hand-painted sign out front "Ribs and Snoots."
Those parts/ trim cost a premium around here, even though there's not much demand for them. Organs and tongue from beef at least.
As a young boy I wondered what was in the yoder amish market meat case. Mom said it was cow tongue. I thought, "oooohh gross, the part that tastes you back when you eat it!" Then I said, SURE MOM looks gross, but I'll try it!
Friends still think I eat weird food.
I will do the salt soak/ boil and skin it like you say. I was wondering why mine was never tender as moms way of cooking it. Is this to tenderize it?
Question Rocky,
Should I keep the salt water for a broth afterwards, or is the flavor off?
The meat tastes fine, but the reason I ask is that sometimes that's recommended for small game to draw out the gamey flavor before broiling, etc
