It’s a cultural norm for many ethnicities. Some groups eat raw fish, some horse meat, dog meat, and when I was in Laos I was offered insects and chicken feet.
When I was growing up, one of my favorite recipes in my mother’s somewhat limited repertoire was what she called oxtail soup (it was her mother’s recipe). A cold-weather meal all by itself served with crusty French bread, it contained barley, a mix of fresh vegetables and some type of meat. Whether it was actually oxtail meat or not I don’t know, but OMG, it was out-of-this-world delicious. Alas, I haven’t eaten this wonderful soup since my mother stopped cooking years ago.
@trailsillustrated So. You only eat the bone marrow of the tail? And that’s a “yum yum?”
I really appreciate this information so now it’s carved in granite that I won’t even go near oxtail anything. I mean, hamburger is bad enough.
@Aster Just curious – what is it about oxtail that is such a turnoff? More so than any other cut of meat, that is.
Osso bucco is the cross section of a cow leg. It’s mostly meat, but there’s also a section of marrow which you can scoop out and eat. It’s very decadent and very delicious!
Well, since you’re just curious, I would feel as if I were munching around an animal’s anal canal bone marrow which some people , not all, find ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING. But I’d change my mind just for you if it would make you happy @glacial .
The ramen place near us is known for their oxtail ramen… my sweetie has ordered it, and I’ve tasted it. I don’t think I could eat the whole portion, though.
HaHaHa! “Anal canal bone marrow” – where do you get this information, @Aster?
It is literally the tail of the cattle, their vertebrae. “Anal canals” don’t have bones. The marrow of all bones is where the body store nutrients and makes blood cells, so it is full of nutrients and flavor. One has to have a taste for it, like one has to have a taste for liver.
Delicious. Only reason I haven’t had any lately is because I haven’t hung out with my Korean friends in awhile and I’m way too lazy to make it myself. (It takes awhile to make.)
Were you legitimately curious? Or did you just ask a question to express your personal disgust?
@Aster here, it is proper oxtail and yes you only eat the marrow. People that are bothered by that need not worry about it but it’s a local dish and it’s YUMMY. We don’t need to know about other’s disgust wev’e been eating it since we were kids it’s in our food group.
It was very popular in the part of rural England where I grew up (cattle country). Usually made into soup; it gives a strong beefy taste. I love it. I’d make it myself at home, if I had anything that I could crack the bones with.
@glacial@ragingloli I’ll eat any of that actually. Maybe it’s the fact that my dog’s have tails that is creeping me out. I would try anything once, I hear marrow is really good.
I love it. I make oxtail soup in the crockpot with carrots, onions, celery, garlic, tomato juice, beef broth, barley and v-8 juice. Makes a nice, greasy, meaty, beefy soup. Oxtails themselves are delicious, tender hunks of beef. I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t like them. I can, however, see why some people would not care for them because of the grease. I just happen to like greasy meat.
The mother of one of my friends in HS made oxtail tacos on a regular basis. I always tried to get invited over when she made them. Her tongue burritos were great too.
No.
I do not eat ox tail, lamb, tongue,liver, head cheese, pork feet or any other assorted nasty animal organs. I especially despise veal and duck/goose liver pate or foie gras. I have had a 15 year love affair with a chinese goose I raised from a tiny gosling. He is a precious, intelligent little animal soul and the cruelty of the foie gras industry is almost unsurpassed.
@Coloma Using ox tails, tongue or internal organs for food is not the same as goose liver pate or veal. No additional cruelty is involved, it’s just about making the best use of the carcass. Nowadays, the tails go into processed meat and pet food but historically, if a cow was slaughtered, nothing would go to waste.
Different cultures use different parts of the animals. For the most part, I like to try just about anything. Even if I thought it was gross, it may be tasty. I draw the line at insects because I have a fear of them—even dead ones. I also won’t drink cow blood as they do in the Congo. I don’t think you could get cow blood like that in the US anyway.
Oddly enough, I don’t mind blood sausage—which is coagulated pig blood—but I mean I wouldn’t just take a swig of blood.
@ragingloli Nope, I do not like sausages. Blech! @downtide Yes, but still disgusting, good to use all the animal I suppose but keep the offal away from me.
British sausages vary a lot in quality; I won’t buy mass-produced ones from a supermarket but I will buy them direct from the farm if I know they contain quality meat. German sausages are even better than ours.
@katniss those little hard things are bits of bone. Won’t do you any harm to swallow them but they might damage your teeth if you bite down on one.
I like and will eat about anything, once at least. If I don’t like it, it would be because of the taste, and not where it came from or who died for me to eat it. I was raised in an agricultural community and I know how the food chain works.