A very amusing post on today’s delicious lengua tacos from Max:
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Hi, everybody. This is my first time posting to the blag. My name is Max and I invented tacos. One taco I invented is called the “Lengua Taco Served At Mei Mei Street Kitchen Today, May Sixteenth, Two Thousand Twelve on the Julian Calendar.” This taco (taco is Spanish for “meat drum” because of the dish’s resemblance to a traditional Spanish “enchilada” drum used, in ancient times, to summon thunder and a particular kind of small crustacean called a “Vamosalaplaya Crab”) is comprised of components that can be seen in the photo below:
A little, now, about all the components. First, the beef tongue: These tongues are from Adams Farm in Athol, MA, and are harvested from pasture raised cows. After I got them I brined them for two hours in a 5% (the “5″ key and the “%” key are on the same button, FYI) saline solution in which I had steeped a delicious Lapsang Souchong tea from Mem Tea in Somerville. After the brine the tongues were transferred to a slow cooker filled with beef fat and cooked at around 210 degrees for a long ass time. After that I peeled them (if you have never peeled a tongue before, it is an extremely upsetting activity), and chopped them. The salsa is made from green tomatoes that I charred in a dry skillet along with some garlic and scallion tops, then chopped in a food pro along with some apple cider vinegar, salt, sugar, and canola oil. I then combined this with a canned habanero salsa we made last summer from charred habaneros, white vinegar, sugar, orange juice, and secret ingredients (just kidding, that’s all the ingredients (or is it? (yes))). Both the habaneros and green tomatoes were from The Food Project, a pretty nifty non-profit and network of farms with youth programs, CSAs, etc. Next up, the relish. This was made from local Schartner Farms radishes which we put through a meat grinder, combined with sliced local spring pearl onions and scallions, some rice wine vinegar, sugar, and salt. The parsnip mousse was made with local parsnips, also from Schartner, which I prepared as a puree following, basically, the parsnip puree recipe in Volt Ink, which, if you haven’t checked out, you must, then mixed with some gelatin dissolved in Rhody Fresh heavy cream, and then folded whipped cream into and allowed to set up over night. The tortillas are “Cinco De Mayo” brand and are made fresh in Chelsea, Mass. The cancha is utterly non-local. It is from a bag. Probably from South America. Woops. In future variations I will use local popcorn with some delicious flavor as the crispy bits for the tacos. Here is a picture of the composed dish. The idea behind the parsnip mousse is that I wanted something like sour cream which I think, for those who are not used to tacos that just kill you with heat and spices, plays an important cooling role, but I wanted it to bring some flavor to the dish as well. I settled on a mousse because it still has the creamy texture I was looking for, without being too heavy or taking over the dish. If you are thinking “this is not a very authentic taco” I politely refer you to the beginning of the post where you will note that I invented tacos. Also, whatever, and your face!
Here is the group of people that made these tacos possible by making literally everything else on the menu (the tacos are the easiest things to execute next to the yogurt, which we scoop out of a big container, and put in a smaller one) at the same time as well as taking orders and making sure the whole operation runs smoothly and being friendly and patient all of which I can not do. I am the handsome one on the far left with the very cool and not at all juvenile or ill-fitting stripped sweater, then Irene, who basically is responsible for the entire cuisine of MMSK, then Jeremy, who is the reason your orders are never screwed up like some other establishments you may have patronized, then Peter and Andre who may as well be magicians and are the reason our truck has such a short wait nearly all the time. They are amazing. Without them the lightbulb would never have been invented. Also, lightning. The reason our truck can do what it does is because our employees are so improbably awesome. You are jealous. That is all. Feel free to tweet at me with complaints; my twitter handle is @maxjhull and I love puppies and boy bands.
