Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge #14 - Fear Factor

The Challenge:  #14 Fear Factor November 30 - December 13

What foods have you always wanted to attempt, but were afraid to attempt to make - or afraid to eat? Choose a dish that is either tricky to create or nerve-wracking to eat, and get adventurous! It’s historical Fear Factor!

Do you believe that we are born disliking something we have never tasted?  Ask any mother who has tried to get her two-year-old to eat broccoli and the answer is Yes!  There is even a phobia for the fear of food - cibophobia.  You might remember that Patrick's mother was a caterer.  She catered for Steven Spielberg when he filmed The Color Purple in North Carolina.  She had to keep it a secret until it was over and his thank you letter to her was a cherished piece of her history.  She enjoyed meeting Mr. Spielberg but was totally overjoyed with meeting Oprah Winfrey!

 

So with a mother who was all about food, you would think that Patrick would be a bit adventurous in the kitchen.  Not!  When I met him he ate chicken, rice, corn, and sometimes a potato.  Really!  Gradually he came to trust what I was placing before him and as he started his own cooking he has become more willing to try new things.

 

Until today.

 

When I told him what I was making.

 

He left the room.

 

So, to prevent you doing the same, here is the final result.

 

A luscious portion of tender meat drizzled with a raisin, mustard, and brown sugar sauce.  Delicious?  Absolutely!

 

But if you are a bit squeamish about your food you might want to stop here and just go into your own kitchen and have a dish of ice cream.  Because in my kitchen we are getting as adventurous as I could find in our mid-century recipe booklets.

 

Last chance!

You're still here?  Well then be prepared to be as surprised as I was (and ultimately as Patrick was) over the ease of preparation and the heavenly flavor of........

 

Beef Tongue -

 

- the tongue of a cow sold as meat for human consumption.  Chances are many of you have had beef tongue.  Eating the beef tongue, along with other types of offal or organ meats, reflects the need or desire to consume as much of a butchered animal as possible rather than wasting perfectly edible meat.  Several ethnic cuisines, including those of Mexico and Germany as well as traditional Jewish cookery, make liberal use of tongue in various traditional dishes and recipes.  Beef tongue and ox tongue are also part of other cuisines including Bulgarian, Turkish, French, Romanian, Spanish, Brazilian, Persian, Indonesian, Nicaraguan, Philippine, Albanian, English, Russian, Korean, Mongolian, Japanese, and Italian.  But never in recorded history has it been part of the cuisine of The Murray Household.

 

I'm pleasantly surprised to find beef tongue readily available at my usual market although I am surprised at the price.  $5.48 per pound.  When I consider that this is almost pure meat and no bone, I feel a little better about the expense of my 3.50# beef tongue.

 

 

I'm using the recipe from the April/May/June 1950 CBS Homemaker's Exchange Recipes.

 

The ingredients:

Preparation:

The water is boiling and it is time to combine everything and settle all into a slow simmer for 4 hours.

 

While the tongue is cooking I think about the difference between Patrick and I when it comes to food choices.  Patrick's grandfather was a butcher and Patrick spent some time visiting friends at nearby farms, but mostly he was a city kid.  My life has been very rural.

 

My father is a wonderful man and was diagnosed with epilepsy.  At the time I was born in Wisconsin epileptics were not allowed to marry.  The state annulled his marriage to my mother  shortly after I was born and I moved in with grandma and grandpa while my mother went to work.  Fortunately, the laws were changed in the early 1950s but by then my mother had remarried.  When my mother and stepfather divorced in the 1960s, joint custody of children and no-fault divorce were not the norm as they are today.  My stepfather wanted custody of the four children and won that legal battle.  The fallout, however, was me.  Since he had never legally adopted me, I became a ward of the state and on my last day of school of the 8th grade I was moved to a foster home.

 

Children are so amazingly resilient.  They often live life being accepting that what is is what is supposed to be.  And so did I.  It was a wonderful home on a beautiful farm.  We had a huge garden, chickens, pigs, dairy and beef cattle.  I played in the field with Charlie, my calf, who was born on the day I arrived.  I watched him grow, watched him die and was helped to understand and accept the circle of life that puts food on our table.  That understanding is missing in some ways today as we see our food packaged and labeled and placed neatly in rows at the market.  Times change.  Epileptics can marry and raise families.  Children of divorced homes can continue to be with and love both parents.  Good change.

 

Back to the kitchen and the wonderful aroma of cooking! 

 

Now that our beef tongue has cooked and is cooling in the pot of juices, it is time to make the raisin sauce.

Raisin Sauce ingredients.

Blended dry ingredients.

Dry ingredients mixed with vinegar.

Simmered raisins.

Finished raisin sauce.

It is important that the outside of the beef tongue be removed while the meat is still hot.  It's an easy slice and peel.

 

 

At this point Patrick walks into the kitchen.  Why?  Because the aroma is really heavenly!  I've already tasted a piece and remember that I have eaten beef tongue before.  It is sweet, tender, and a knife goes through it like butter.  Patrick can't resist.  He takes a small piece and puts it in his mouth but then puts a finger to his temple and shakes his head.  He can't NOT think about what this meat is and he walks away.

 

Me, on the other hand, plate up a serving with the raisin sauce and enjoy a wonderful meal.  But then, I'm a country girl!

 

Enjoy, if you aren't afraid!

Just Jeanette here this time!