The Foodie Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

This is where I get my sense of adventure regarding food.

This morning, Dad was up and cooking something in the pressure cooker, his favorite mode of meat preparation. The whole house smelled of meat. Mom was horrified at the permeation of the aromas throughout the living room. She was even more horrified when dad announced that the meat had burnt. and the horror continued when she discovered that he had been cooking cow tongue and lips.

I got her narration of it all when I went into the kitchen to get Coco's morning meds. I looked in the pot and the contents didn't look burned, nor did they look particularly unappetizing.

Just now, I've gone back to the kitchen to get a snack. Something small to tide me over until dinner with cousins. Dad was in the kitchen and told me he burned the meat he was making, but that some of it was ok and with some salt it was good. I peeked in the pot again and told him I didn't think it was burnt and that it was just a dark meat. And did he want me to make him a couple of tacos. He said ok. Dad and I have a sort of conspiratorial dynamic. I'm not going to scold him for his experiments, and if anything, he knows I can usually save them and make him feel better about trying things.

To be honest, the meat was wonderfully tender and flavorful. Sure enough, it was just particularly dark, but not charred in the least. It was easily pulled apart with a fork, so I heated some tortillas, filled them with the meat, squeezed some lemon drops and laced with the salsa in the fridge.

Those were the best tacos I've had in a long time. Sold.

It's typical that dad should bring these oddities home once in a while. A couple of years ago we were at a Spanish restaurant and no one wanted to try the escargots except him and I. We also share a love of oysters on the shell and brain tacos.

I think I should encourage him more. I think he's lived with curiosities that he hasn't been brave enough to explore on his own. Maybe it's time to get dad out and about in the bigger world of cuisine.