Tony Page
Well-known member
So let me get this straight you go to the sandwich and you say "stick your tongue out" and you just apply the mustard how easy is that
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Krystal Shay
Well-known member
My dad liked beef tongue.
There wasn't too many parts of an animal that my grandparents or parents didn't dine on. As a kid, I use to eat squirrel and cow brains, which I hated. I also ate rocky mountain oysters aka “pig nuts.” Some say rocky mountain oysters are from bull testicles only but, we had grown up with the pig version too.
I've never eaten brain nor "those" oysters. These days with all the weird prion stuff I'd be afraid to eat brains. (There are parts of the country--including here--where deer are spreading their version of Mad Cow Disease.) And I, too, have always heard of R.M. Oysters as coming from pigs. You gotta wonder why people would eat that. It's not as though the waste would be great in feeding them to the dogs.My dad liked beef tongue.
Beth Gallagher
Well-known member
People who experienced the Great Depression like our grandparents and parents would eat just about anything and be happy to have it. As a kid I never questioned what my mother put in stew or whatever; I'd just fix my plate and be happy to have supper. With enough onions, garlic, and gravy most anything is palatable when you're hungry.
One of my favorite things as a kid was fried beef tripe. I was totally grown before I even knew that was cow stomach.
That's a good point. I've always thought that tongue came from a Waste Not/Want Not era. Maybe some folks had enough hogs so when Castrating Season hit, they could make a meal out of them.
This conversation made me search for the nutritional value of pig testicles. It's pretty much the same profile as any other organ meat. And it seems that eating them is more mainstream than I thought. The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology offers "food service handling guidelines and culinary uses" for them, and of course there is "The Complete Collection of Home Cooking Pork Testicles" on ChinaFoodBook.com
The whole topic makes me cross my legs...tightly.
Beth Gallagher
Well-known member
I'm pretty sure that a lot of "mystery meat" ended up in homemade sausage. My mother and grandma would grind up all the random bits, season well, and stuff into sausage casings.
I believe beef tongue used to be considered somewhat a delicacy. Once it's cooked properly and skinned, it looks like any other meat. But the handling of the fresh tongue is icky.
I believe beef tongue used to be considered somewhat a delicacy. Once it's cooked properly and skinned, it looks like any other meat. But the handling of the fresh tongue is icky.
Tony Page
Well-known member
I grew up in the city so my experience with eating parts of animals is limited. I would not eat anything I couldn't identify I was always a fussy eater. My grandparents the "old timers" immigrated from Italy and brought with the many traditions and traditional foods. One of the most unusual foods was "Capuzelle" which was the head of the goat. I've never seen this in person but I have heard from other people that it was delicious. I'm not even sure how they cooked it.
I know my grandmother on my mother's side, slaughtered, skinned and cooked rabbit. She also slaughtered and dressed chicken and turkey.
I know my father would tell me that there was a wine season. my grandfather would have crates of grapes delivered and my father and his brothers would spend a week pressing these into a juice used to make wine. I wish I was alive at that time to see this process I find it interesting.
I know my grandmother on my mother's side, slaughtered, skinned and cooked rabbit. She also slaughtered and dressed chicken and turkey.
I know my father would tell me that there was a wine season. my grandfather would have crates of grapes delivered and my father and his brothers would spend a week pressing these into a juice used to make wine. I wish I was alive at that time to see this process I find it interesting.
Krystal Shay
Well-known member
That's a good point. I've always thought that tongue came from a Waste Not/Want Not era. Maybe some folks had enough hogs so when Castrating Season hit, they could make a meal out of them.
This conversation made me search for the nutritional value of pig testicles. It's pretty much the same profile as any other organ meat. And it seems that eating them is more mainstream than I thought. The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology offers "food service handling guidelines and culinary uses" for them, and of course there is "The Complete Collection of Home Cooking Pork Testicles" on ChinaFoodBook.com
The whole topic makes me cross my legs...tightly.
We always ate the pig testicles deep fried. My dad told my brother and me that they were call
to make us giggle. Shoot, we were probably only 7 or 8 years old, when we ate them. My mom always got mad at Dad for saying that because she was afraid we go to school and tell everyone. She was right. We did. 
But that was nothing new to farm kids in grade school.
So you all raised hogs?We always ate the pig testicles deep fried. My dad told my brother and me that they were call
Krystal Shay
Well-known member
No. My grandparents did. They were the farmers. They lived a couple of miles from us. Also, my dad was manager in a meat processing plant for about 10 years or so, when I was young.
I once read about cooking tongue. As I recall, you usually boil it and have to peel the top layer of skin off of it. I should try making it. A quick web search says they only weigh a couple of pounds. Interestingly, most of the search results are either from England or Australia, with one result for Smoked Wagyu Tongue that looks like it's raw...$60 for a 1.0# to 1.5# tongue!!! It keeps for 3 months in the fridge (but it's got salt, sodium nitrate and it's smoked.)
@Hedi Mitchell husband was a butcher. Not many grocery stores process their own meats anymore. So much of it comes pre-packaged.
Years ago I had a copy of a copy of a copy of "hacked" recipes from fast food places...KFC chicken, Wendy's chili, stuff like that. Among the hacks was one for the belly bombs you would get at White Castle or Little Tavern. The secret ingredient is to add 1/4# of liver to 1# of burger. Butchers will not grind organ meat because apparently they would have to clean the grinder afterwards, and liver gets into every nook and cranny. So I puréed it in a food processor and then mixed it with the burger. It's the real deal. You cannot taste the liver, but it obviously changes the flavor. Gotta pan-fry the burgers tiny & flat and use the little rolls just like they used to in the restaurants, and fry up some minced onions to put on top.
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Krystal Shay
Well-known member
My dad knew how to butcher, also. He learned from his dad when he was young man growing up. My dad taught us too how to cut meat too. When I was little, my brother and I use to go to work with my dad in the summer months; sometimes. I’m sure the hand full of employees just loved us little kids wandering around in the plant. My Dad made sure we stayed out of the way and behaved ourselves. He was a strict dad.
We would watch the cows and hogs get slaughtered; skinned and gutted in the killing bay. Then we scurry up to the butchering room where they were working on cutting and wrapping the meat for the freezer. There was also a little store in front to where customers could come in and buy meat from the meat show case.
One of my dad’s jobs was delivering boxes of hamburger patties, other beef and pork products to restaurants in the surrounding area. We were always on those deliveries with him. We knew the local bar people and cooks too. I had two great aunts that were cooks in different establishments. One worked in a night club and the other in one of the local bars. When we come in with my dad to make the delivery, they had a slice of homemade pie for us. My dad would fry us up hamburgers back at the plant, as he did for the other workers, if we were there at lunch time.
My Dad made sure we stayed out of the way and behaved ourselves. He was a strict dad. We would watch the cows and hogs get slaughtered; skinned and gutted in the killing bay. Then we scurry up to the butchering room where they were working on cutting and wrapping the meat for the freezer. There was also a little store in front to where customers could come in and buy meat from the meat show case.
One of my dad’s jobs was delivering boxes of hamburger patties, other beef and pork products to restaurants in the surrounding area. We were always on those deliveries with him. We knew the local bar people and cooks too. I had two great aunts that were cooks in different establishments. One worked in a night club and the other in one of the local bars. When we come in with my dad to make the delivery, they had a slice of homemade pie for us. My dad would fry us up hamburgers back at the plant, as he did for the other workers, if we were there at lunch time.
Beth Gallagher
Well-known member
Yes, it has to be boiled for several hours with a lot of aromatics (onion, garlic, bay leaf, etc.), then peeled. I see that my local HEB has fresh tongue but it's about $9 a pound.
My dad manager Murphy stores and we would go into the store with him sometimes. Lots of memories regarding the old stores of the mid century and their manual elevators and roller-type conveyor receiving systems. Raiding the bulk candy counter, the fresh roasted nuts and the snack bar was the best. And like your dad, mine was strict, too. Each section had a Department Head running it. I was playing with the toys and the Department Head told me I was not permitted to do that. "It's OK...I'm the Manager's son." I did not know that the old man was behind me. One swat on the ass let me know I had no rank to pull. In hindsight, I think it's cool that he respected his staff's authority like that.My dad knew how to butcher, also. He learned from his dad when he was young man growing up. My dad taught us too how to cut meat too. When I was little, my brother and I use to go to work with my dad in the summer months; sometimes. I’m sure the hand full of employees just loved us little kids wandering around in the plant.
We would watch the cows and hogs get slaughtered; skinned and gutted in the killing bay. Then we scurry up to the butchering room where they were working on cutting and wrapping the meat for the freezer. There was also a little store in front to where customers could come in and buy meat from the meat show case.
One of my dad’s jobs was delivering boxes of hamburger patties, other beef and pork products to restaurants in the surrounding area. We were always on those deliveries with him. We knew the local bar people and cooks too. I had two great aunts that were cooks in different establishments. One worked in a night club and the other in one of the local bars. When we come in with my dad to make the delivery, they had a slice of homemade pie for us. My dad would fry us up hamburgers back at the plant, as he did for the other workers, if we were there at lunch time.
My mother used to buy bread from the local bakery and we would go in the back door through the kitchen. The bakers always gave us a cookie or pastry. The best part was the woman who put the bread in the slicer. She wore a hair net, and always had 3" of ash hanging on the end of her cigarette, threatening to fall into our bread. It never did.
It's sad that those real life things no longer exist.
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Walmart is the same price. Theirs are 3.25# to 4.25#.
I may ask around and see who else likes tongue. I'd do one just to say I've done it if I find folks to share it with.