Besides being an expert in bilingual-bicultural studies, UTSA professor emerita Dr. Ellen Riojas Clark makes a delicious homemade lengua with her own unique twist.
For those who’ve never had beef tongue, Clark said it not only makes for tender barbacoa, it is also enjoyed worldwide.
“It can be high cuisine or it can be cuisine ‘de la casa,’ family eating,” Clark said.
Being it is Hispanic Heritage Month, Clark’s colorful Mexican-style kitchen was the perfect setting to show just how easy it is to make “lengua,” using “hoja santa,” the “sacred leaf” otherwise known as Mexican pepper leaf or rootbeer plant, which has a faint aroma similar to the popular soda.
Clark said “lengua” was long considered “la comida de los pobres,” a food that poor families could afford and who weren’t about to let anything go to waste.
Even so, she said, “They were so creative and innovative.”
Clark’s own recipe involves adding garlic cloves, bay leaves, pepper corn and salt, wrapping it in “oja santa” to impart its own mild flavor, and then aluminum foil, or just foil if “oja santa” isn’t available. Then it’s into the crock pot. Remove the outer skin after it’s cooked.
“Cook it all night, get up in the morning and it’s ready to go,” Clark said. “It’s actually very nutritious and it has a wonderful, smooth, smooth, delicate flavor.”
She said the result is delicious barbacoa, perfect for breakfast tacos on the weekend, with plenty of pico de gallo, chopped onions and warm tortillas on the side.
Clark said it’s also important to remember, especially during Hispanic Heritage Month, “It reflects our history, how we were brought up and where we were brought up and what we like to eat.”