Monday 7 April 2008

Tongue!

I was standing in my favourite deli the other day choosing things for a soup-and-bread-and-things lunch.


At the back of the hams was a dark-reddish meat. 'Ox tongue' said the label.

Tongue is one of those things I would have thought I must have eaten before. This is because it is familiar to us from children's literature - all those interminable massive farmhouse teas served to the Famous Five after an adventure, with fresh bread and butter and a cold tongue and lashings of something or other to drink. But I couldn't have said what it tasted like. It normally counts as offal, of course, although it's really just a big muscle. My husband insisted it was chewy, and you'd be able to feel the taste buds as you ate it.

Anyway, I bought a few slices, and guess what? The children loved it. 'Muh! Muh!' said the baby, stuffing it in and holding out his chubby fist for more. My two year old made a grab for the bit on my plate.

For any other tongue virgins out there (fnarr) it just tasted like a rather beefy sort of ham. No taste buds or anything weird, and not at all tough.

4 comments:

Chloe said...

Bleurghhhh
Tongue!

Thats one of them foods that bring back horrid memories from my childhood.
But strangely alot of people enjoy it!

And something else. After all my years when I lived in York, I have never come across that Deli.
I shall send my parents for yummy stuff.

Anonymous said...

Yummmmmm! Haven't eaten tongue for over 20 years, since I had a boyfriend whose family had it for 'Sunday tea' every week (or so it seemed). It's lovely... you just have to put the idea that it's a real...you know... tongue [!] to the back of your mind. Great blog... I'll be back!

Rhubarb Fool said...

Good point about forgetting that tongue is tongue!

I was curious to know if the 2 year old had grasped what she was eating, so I asked her if she knew what part of the cow it came from. She looked at me like I was stupid as only a toddler can - 'It's his tongue of course Mummy.'

Anonymous said...

I'll take your little one's word for it that it was yummy. I am from the North East & I am sure my Auntie in Jersey would love one of the hampers.Good luck with the blog.
EHM