Cooking with Beef Tongue


Have you ever tried it? Your first impulse might be to recoil in horror, but like many other traditional ancestral foods that have been stripped from our memory in recent decades, this is one thing that you will not regret trying.

Indeed, we make a delicious stew with beef tongue. Because its value is largely unknown to many, I find that I can purchase beef tongue at a much lower cost than other cuts of meat when it comes to buying from 100% grassfed and grass finished local farming operations.

While high quality, grass-fed, "stew meat" might run about $7 or $8 per pound where I live, a whole beef tongue is about half that price or less. There are many ways to use beef tongue in your cooking, but today I will focus on a classic beef stew.

"My kids will never eat that"...

Don't despair. If you are worried that you won't be able to incorporate this traditional food into your kids' diet without them protesting, you might try making the stew and not telling them. I promise you, they will not even know the difference. You can then tell them afterwards and (hopefully) they will be pleasantly surprised! I also have to say that it is extremely important to get our children accustomed to eating healthy food. I know it is not an easy thing to turn around if they are used to eating unhealthy, processed foods all the time. But with consistency, gentleness, flexibility and setting reasonable goals, it can be done. (Perhaps another blog post on this sometime?)

Slow cooked beef tongue tastes almost identical to a roast beef or stewed beef. It is very tender, no gristle, and also contains a lot of natural gelatin which releases into the cooking water rendering the stew oh-so-nutritious.

To prepare the tongue, place into a stew pot with a tight fitting lid, cover with filtered water (about one gallon per tongue), and slowly bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to a very slow, low simmer. Alternatively you could slow cook it in a crock pot with liquid added. 

As with most other beef cuts, the same spices and herbs are added that you might normally use  to flavor a beef stew. I like to add to the cooking water:

Onions, Garlic, Celery, Shallots, Black Pepper, Rosemary, Thyme, Bay Leaf

I simmer on low for about 5 to 8 hours. *Towards the end of the cooking time, prepare your vegetables. (See below)

Remove the tongue from the cooking liquid, which by now will be a rich dark golden brown color. Bring the broth back to a boil and add your vegetables. (See below)

The tongue needs to be peeled. It is very easy to do. Simply use a filet knife and peel the thick outer layer of the tongue. (Toss into the compost, of feed to your chickens or dogs for a nutritious treat) The inside of the cooked tongue will be a large chunk of tender, stewed meat. Chop the meat into bite size pieces. (I do this quickly with scissors, saving my cutting board from one less wash that day)

You might find that the inner meat is more "fatty". If your children have an aversion to fatty meat as mine do, chop those bits extra tiny, almost minced. It will basically just dissolve into the broth once you add the meat back into the stew. 

After peeling and chopping the tongue meat, set it aside (in the refrigerator). 

Add your choice of vegetables to the broth. I used:

Rutabaga, Turnips, Carrots, Onion, Potatoes, and Butternut Squash

You might also choose to add more herbs or a generous amount of sea salt. 

Once the vegetables are nice and soft (usually after about 1 hour), add the meat back in and remove the stew from heat. 

It is ready to serve, but stew is always best on the second day, or at least after setting for an hour or two. 

If you decide to refrigerate the stew and serve the second day, or if you simply have leftovers from dinner, just wait until you see how gelatinous the broth is once cooled. This is how you know your body is truly getting a power packed nourish punch!




Our Ancestors Knew...

Our ancestors knew of these simple, rich dishes that nourished our people. These basic stews are something that every cook in the house should be able to master. There is so much room for creativity and variation. The real broth used, the simple ingredients and spices, all contribute to a truly life-giving food. This simple stew can nourish growing young children, men and women throughout their prime, and even help the elderly or bring back vitality to a sick person. 

Our ancestors knew ways to prepare all the parts of the animal and very little, if anything went to "waste". Today, industrialized agriculture, the modern food pyramid and diet fads have created a system of waste. Millions, if not billions of tons of food is thrown to landfills each year. When it comes to animal butchering, wasting good parts is like giving the middle finger to the spirit of the creature that died to nourish your body. While I understand that is out of our control, we can choose to support small scale farmers whenever possible, and bring awareness back to the under appreciated cuts of meat such as tongue, liver (see our liver pate recipe), chicken feet, pork fat, beef tallow and more- all the while reaching our potential as healthy beings in body and mind. 

Don't be too quick to turn your back on an ancestral dish simply because it seems foreign to you. 

Many blessings to you....

-By Vasalisa