Tongue

[TheWayCreatesTheWarrior]

hows the texture of Tongue?
what about taste?

ive never tried it.

[wodgina]

The best meat on the animal! tasty

Fat is marbled through it with the back half being the fattiest, do yourself a favour and get some!

Andrew

[Satya]

The best meat on the animal! tasty

Fat is marbled through it with the back half being the fattiest, do yourself a favour and get some!

Andrew

Are you eating tongue raw, Andrew?  If so, please share your preparation methods, including whether you skin it or not, etc.

I haven't quite managed that, but I agree that tongue is a super tasty cut.  It has a bunch of connective tissue in it, and the juices will kind of gel like broth when chilled.  So I am sure it is a good choice for joint health.  But I just haven't gotten up the nerve to try it raw.  I need help, cuz I really want to go all raw mainly carnivorous at least for a time this summer, and variety is a must for me. 

Thanks for any ideas anyone.

[wodgina]

Are you eating tongue raw, Andrew?  If so, please share your preparation methods, including whether you skin it or not, etc.

I haven't quite managed that, but I agree that tongue is a super tasty cut.  It has a bunch of connective tissue in it, and the juices will kind of gel like broth when chilled.  So I am sure it is a good choice for joint health.  But I just haven't gotten up the nerve to try it raw.  I need help, cuz I really want to go all raw mainly carnivorous at least for a time this summer, and variety is a must for me. 

Thanks for any ideas anyone.

Hi Satya

Yep I eat it raw, the fatty bit at the back is the tastiest meat from beef in my opinion.

It does have some gel type stuff, I wipe it off.
I found it really easy to eat raw and was the first 'organ' meat I tried. I have to admit I'm very wastefull and only eat the back half and remove the skin and connective tissue plus blood vessels.

I'm squeamish also and I suggest cutting the meat from the back half into squares (it won't look like tongue anymore) and put on a plate and treating it like a delicacy. Which it is of course! I think the paleo American Indians would agree with me there

Good Luck

Andrew

[xylothrill]

Good description Andrew! My mouth is watering! I haven't tried one yet but that will be in my next order!

Craig

[Satya]

So I suppose you don't season it with anything.  I am not there yet.  Hmm, maybe dipping slices into some fat-based sauce or another.

And I always peel tongue.  I have a dog, cats and chickens, so nothing ever gets wasted round these here parts.  I don't mind the tongue tip cooked, but I shall take your advice on the raw tongue and eat the back myself and give the tip and peelings to the animals.

[Kristelle]

Raw tongue is divine, even better when aged. Haven't had some in ages.

[yon yonson]

so i love the taste of raw tongue but i have difficulty eating it. how the hell do you guys remove the 'skin' from the meat? i hate wasting and i want to get all the meat off the skin. currently i just try to bite all the meat off the inner skin with my teeth but its pretty inefficient. any tips?

[Hannibal]

I eat only mutton and lamb tongues - I like them the most
When I first started eating them I tried to remove the skin from the meat, but it was quite hard.
But then I managed to eat them whole - I discovered that skin is also quite tasty and it's quite easy to chew it.
I age them a little bit (about 5 do 10 days) before eating, as slightly high ones are simple better

[yon yonson]

interesting... the tongue i got was from a cow and the skin seemed pretty inedible. it was harder than leather and the tongue hairs were more like metal hooks. but i didnt age it at all. i'll give that a shot next time.

by the way, i dont know much about aging meats. is there a way to age meat without refrigeration? can i just leave it in a jar outside the fridge for a few days? weeks?

[Raw Rob]

I had some lamb tongue a few weeks ago. It was pretty tasteless. I guess I'll have to age it next time. Are there any specific health benefits of eating tongue? It's really just muscle isn't it?

[TylerDurden]

I had some lamb tongue a few weeks ago. It was pretty tasteless. I guess I'll have to age it next time. Are there any specific health benefits of eating tongue? It's really just muscle isn't it?

Raw tongue is something like 50-60% fat by content. I absolutely love the taste of beef/ox- and venison tongue. With beef tongue, most people prefer to cut away the darker purplier underside of the tongue and just eat the pinker slab-like meat above(and also throw way the tip - but, after a while, they get used to and enjoy the whole tongue.

[RawZi]

With beef tongue, most people prefer to cut away the darker purplier underside of the tongue and just eat the pinker slab-like meat above(and also throw way the tip - but, after a while, they get used to and enjoy the whole tongue.

    I got beef tongue twice before.  It was rough, I didn't like that.  It went to waste for me.  Hopefully animals enjoyed eating it.  I just got bison tongue now though.  It's nice and fatty, just great texture.  Does the purple part taste bad, or just tough?  I've only eaten from the back end of it so far.  The upper skin is a little tougher than the inside meat, but I find it edible.  I will probably deal with the tip in a couple of days.

    Funny thing, all cats are not alike.  My fat loving cat loved the tongue.  She chewed on it before swallowing.  She doesn't seem to usually chew as much with other meats.  My finicky cat wouldn't touch the tongue.  Luckily I remembered I had some lean pork muscle from three days ago that was still in perfect condition, so I fished that out and she loved it. 

[TylerDurden]

    I got beef tongue twice before.  It was rough, I didn't like that.  It went to waste for me.  Hopefully animals enjoyed eating it.  I just got bison tongue now though.  It's nice and fatty, just great texture.  Does the purple part taste bad, or just tough?  I've only eaten from the back end of it so far.  The upper skin is a little tougher than the inside meat, but I find it edible.  I will probably deal with the tip in a couple of days.

    Funny thing, all cats are not alike.  My fat loving cat loved the tongue.  She chewed on it before swallowing.  She doesn't seem to usually chew as much with other meats.  My finicky cat wouldn't touch the tongue.  Luckily I remembered I had some lean pork muscle from three days ago that was still in perfect condition, so I fished that out and she loved it. 

The darker purple part is just stringier and tougher to eat and a little bland in taste.

[yon yonson]

just had some beef tongue for lunch. de-fucking-licious! i've really taken a liking to tongue after being pretty terrified after i first tried it last winter. the back part with all the fat is just too good. oh, one thing though: does anyone know what those yellow sac things are that are on the underside of the tongue near the back? just curious... they taste a little musty but are pretty good i guess.

[phatdave]

cant wait to try tongue raw! tried it cooked and it was seriously weird!! (but i still really liked it! even the sandpaper rough surface was kinda fun!)

[TylerDurden]

just had some beef tongue for lunch. de-fucking-licious! i've really taken a liking to tongue after being pretty terrified after i first tried it last winter. the back part with all the fat is just too good. oh, one thing though: does anyone know what those yellow sac things are that are on the underside of the tongue near the back? just curious... they taste a little musty but are pretty good i guess.

I think that's just due to the yellow type of fat. Sounds like you have a very good source.

[eveheart]

just had some beef tongue for lunch. de-fucking-licious! i've really taken a liking to tongue after being pretty terrified after i first tried it last winter. the back part with all the fat is just too good.

Bump!

If it weren't for this thread, I would have thrown out the tongue I bought from a grass-fed CSA. The "back part" - let's call it the heart of the tongue - is an obscenely delicious perfect lump of tender fatty meat. I ended up tossing the unchewable front of the tongue in the garbage, but I'm signing up for more tongue on the next CSA delivery date.

[LePatron7]

I just ordered 1 lb of tongue, we'll see how it goes.

[goodsamaritan]

Bump!

If it weren't for this thread, I would have thrown out the tongue I bought from a grass-fed CSA. The "back part" - let's call it the heart of the tongue - is an obscenely delicious perfect lump of tender fatty meat. I ended up tossing the unchewable front of the tongue in the garbage, but I'm signing up for more tongue on the next CSA delivery date.

Can you take a picture of your tongue so I can see what that back part is that is obscenely delicious?

[LePatron7]

Sure

[ys]

I eat front part no problem.  You can also grind it.

[van]

:Yes, the back half is where it's at.  Try to fillet it with a sharp knife cutting the meat away from the skin. 

[CitrusHigh]

Eve you threw meat in the garbage??? The front of the tongue is so good as sushi, you just need to slice it thin and pound it a little just before you eat it. Good with some wasabi/mustard/relish, yummmmnesss.

GS, the back part is heavily marbled and if left to come up to room temp, or even warmed gently, is so tender, in stark contrast to the front half of the tongue. I just got done gorging on tongue (first time in 3 months!!) last night, with some high quality mustard, one of life's simple pleasures. Ate the whole thing, so starved for high quality pastured meats since my road trip to cali.

Will post picks later, but if you just google images beef tongue - woops, here's one...    This image shows the marbling perfectly. If there were cross sections of the front half of the tongue, you would see it is bright red and looks like leg or arm muscle instead of marbled butteriness.

[TylerDurden]

Right now I can only get hold of hot smoked tongue which I naturally loathe the taste of,
so I envy you guys.