# Anyone here eat beef tongue? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 25, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996 "2007-10-25T17:50:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/1 "2007-10-25T17:50:29Z")
And want to tell me what to about it? I will have the opportunity to dine on some soon, and want to know what to expect. I’ve seen a few food shows where connoisseurs rave about it, one even saying its the tastiest part of the cow, but realize their tastes may different than normal. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/2 "2007-10-25T17:53:23Z")
If the taste buds have been taken off, it’s pretty much like pot roast - stringy meat that’s good braised. If it’s ground, you won’t be able to tell it’s not regular ground beef. If it’s roasted whole, with the taste buds still on, it’s…weird. It looks weird. It looks like…well…like a tongue. I always cut off the taste buds before cooking it. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/3 "2007-10-25T17:59:30Z")
I simmer it for three hours. Add a half dozen or so cloves of garlic, a sliced onion, a couple of bay leaves, maybe a quarter cup cider vinegar, some black pepper, salt if desired. I sometimes stud a whole onion with cloves and drop that in the pot as well. I think tongue is best thinly sliced on toasted rye with mustard, although some people like horseradish. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/4 "2007-10-25T18:00:16Z")
I’ve only tasted it once, at a neighbor’s house. It was offered to me without the mom telling me what it was. I ate it, and said “mmmmmmm! That was good! What was it?” So I guess if you can get past the part about it being a tongue, it tastes just like pot roast, as **WhyNot** said. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/5 "2007-10-25T18:00:27Z")
I have had it in sandwiches, smoked, Peeled, and sliced thinly. It was fairly tasty, and not tough. Nothing so special that I wanted to go out and buy some more, though. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/6 "2007-10-25T18:04:03Z")
I’ve had it in tacos it makes for a juicier consistency than steak. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/7 "2007-10-25T18:18:49Z")
Mom used to try to hide it in soup, on the theory that we’d like it if we didn’t know what it was. Never worked. It tastes OK but the texture is odd. I didn’t much care for it. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/8 "2007-10-25T18:26:31Z")
I like to pickle it. Pickled tongue sandwiches and beer are a match made in heaven. ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/9 "2007-10-25T18:28:23Z")
It has an odd texture, yes, but is very tasty. Use a dab of horseradish with it (like you would with prime rib). It makes WONDERFUL sandwichwes when used with a slice of fresh red onion! ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/10 "2007-10-25T18:28:56Z")
Grew up on a farm and raised steers so we had it fairly regularly. I could never tell if from regular roast beef and love it cold on good bread with spicy mustard. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/11 "2007-10-25T18:29:35Z")
Years ago, I did. I thought it tasted like roast, but it was tough. Maybe it just hadn’t been prepared that well (sorry, Mom). And, the taste buds freaked me out a little. I was about 12 at the time. Opening the fridge and seeing this giant tongue poking out at me was a little freaky too. To my 12-year-old self, it looked like it was about a yard long. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/12 "2007-10-25T19:38:46Z")
If it’s prepared properly, it’s delicious. It is very, very easy to not prepare properly. It’s very difficult to prepare well. The best tongue I’ve ever had (hush, now) was at the New York restaurant wd-50. It was sliced as thin as tissue and cooked sous vide. Amazing. Perfectly tender, with robust flavor. Where are you getting your tongue? (I said hush.) ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/13 "2007-10-25T19:49:15Z")
I had it in a local Colombian restaraunt and the owner smiled when I owned it. It was quite good. Tasted just like very tender pot roast, as others have said. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/14 "2007-10-25T19:50:19Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] If it’s prepared properly, it’s delicious. It is very, very easy to not prepare properly. It’s very difficult to prepare well. The best tongue I’ve ever had (hush, now) was at the New York restaurant wd-50. It was sliced as thin as tissue and cooked sous vide. Amazing. Perfectly tender, with robust flavor. Where are you getting your tongue? (I said hush.) [/QUOTE] I don’t know- I’ll be eating a friends at that’s what’s on the menu- don’t know anything at all about it. ---
**Author:** ![rhythmonly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@rhythmonly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhythmonly)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/15 "2007-10-25T20:20:46Z")
Never tried it. I did, however, cause my Mom quite a bit of trauma by chasing her around the grocery store with one whenever I got the chance. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/16 "2007-10-25T20:21:01Z")
Edith tried to serve Archie some beef tongue. He refused it saying that he wasn’t going to eat anything that came out of a cow’s moth. Instead he opted for a couple of eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/17 "2007-10-25T20:28:07Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] The best tongue I’ve ever had (hush, now) was at the New York restaurant wd-50. [/QUOTE] In a discussion with a coworker about properly prepared tongue, I had several people come in to me saying, “The only tongue I’ve ever tasted was my grandmother’s.” Even though that happened over five years ago, there are people in my life who still won’t let me live that down. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/18 "2007-10-25T20:30:14Z")
My mother used to send me to school with tounge-and-mayo sandwiches. It was really tender and tasty - I didn’t make the connection with the organ - I thought it was come kind of paté called “tung”. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/19 "2007-10-25T20:37:51Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] I’ll be eating a friends at that’s what’s on the menu- don’t know anything at all about it. [/QUOTE] Ah. Cross your fingers then. Maybe you’ll get lucky and the tongue will be from **Asimovian** ’s granny. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996/20 "2007-10-25T20:40:53Z")
[QUOTE=Stuffy] I’ve had it in tacos it makes for a juicier consistency than steak. [/QUOTE] Same here. Most of the taco wagons I frequent have _tacos de lengua_ on the menu. They’re good; the meat is slow-cooked so it’s about like brisket or pot roast. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-eat-beef-tongue/423996.md?page=2)