Beef tongue is a traditional food in Mexican, German, and Jewish cuisine. It has 241 calories per 3-ounce serving, with most calories coming from fat. It can be found in ethnic markets and can be served in various dishes. It reflects the need to consume all edible parts of an animal. Shoppers may need to specially order it and should be aware of its size and price.
Beef tongue is the tongue of a cow sold as meat for human consumption. Several ethnic cuisines, including those of Mexico and Germany, as well as traditional Jewish cuisine, make liberal use of the language in various traditional dishes and recipes. The calorie count for beef tongue is 241 calories per 3-ounce (85 g) serving, with most of its calories coming from fat. Preparation of the tongue varies, but often includes boiling and then skinning the tongue before cutting it and then adding it to different dishes. While beef tongue isn’t always readily available in U.S. supermarkets, it’s often a staple in various ethnic markets.
The consumption of beef tongue, along with other types of offal or organ meats, reflects the need in many cultures to consume as much of a slaughtered animal as possible rather than wasting perfectly edible meat. While many modern diets dismiss offal due to its lack of sophistication and in some cases due to its fat content, various types of traditional diets still consume organ meat on a regular basis. Beef tongue tacos, also known as lengua tacos, are a common Mexican dish and can also be found across the United States in Mexican restaurants catering to a predominantly immigrant clientele. The tongue can also be served in a cold salad or as a spicy dish, called lengua de res, served with a starch, such as rice, or in tortillas.
Shoppers in countries that don’t normally include beef tongue in their regular diet may need to look for a store that actually stocks this type of meat. In some cases, a customer may specially order a beef tongue from a butcher or meat market. In areas with ethnic enclaves, it may be possible to source beef tongue from an ethnic market. People buying beef tongue for the first time should be aware that beef tongue from an adult cow can be quite large, so they should have a recipe in mind that can be made all at once and then divided and frozen, provided Of course the cook doesn’t have a large crowd to feed. In some cases, a meat market may have veal tongues for sale, which can be much smaller than an adult cow’s tongue. Consumers should also be aware that tongue contains no bones, so the price they will pay will be for meat and skin only, which can have a significant impact on the affordability of meat.
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