Lenguas

This recipe hails from a 1907 manuscript collection of home recipes penned by Susana Irazoqui Palacio and other women in Durango, northern Mexico. The manual captures a time when domestic kitchens were adapting to slow modernization but still relied on traditional food preservation methods, especially in households far from market towns or refrigeration. Cured meats like these tongues provided reliable protein for months, a necessity in times of scarcity or celebration. Preserving beef tongue in salt and saltpetre not only kept food safe for longer periods but also added distinctive flavors and textures prized in Mexican home cookery. These hand-written compendiums reflect both the resourcefulness and continuity of family culinary knowledge during the early 20th century's shifting social landscape.

A large wooden (or ceramic) basin or trough was traditionally used for curing the tongues. The meat was handled with bare or gloved hands, and the tongues were turned with tongs or by hand. After curing, tongues were threaded onto thick string or wire and hung from the beams of a kitchen chimenea (fireplace), air-drying above kitchen fires or in the open air. No refrigeration was used; preservation relied on salt and airflow. Sharp knives were used for handling, and a fireplace hook or rafter provided a place to suspend the tongues during drying.