Lengua

I recently paid a visit to the Tri Cities for the holiday weekend. My host invited me to try what he jokingly calls "dog tacos". We drove to an out-of-way taco truck parked in a dirt parking lot next to a car wash stall in Pasco. I'm ashamed to admit that this was my FIRST taco truck experience.

I've been longing to try and then I get all widgetty about hygiene and running water, soap and the general eeew factor. Leave me alone! I'm a germ-o-phobe! Or I should say I WAS a germ-o-phobe. I'm really getting over it.

I decided to go long on this taco truck adventure and try the lengua (tongue) tacos. I'd had a few people recommend them and I'd watched Rick Bayless drive it home on Top Chef Masters with his tongue tacos. So, I was in. I think my host was horrified.

Even though I went long, I was not ALL in. I ordered one carne and one lengua. Though both were truly the most outstanding tacos I've EVER had the pleasure of eating. I was never really certain which was which. I had to assume that the one with a little more fat evident in the meat must be the beef.

As we sat at the dust-covered table in this industrial area our conversation fell by the wayside for a few moments. I stared at my 3.00 lunch in total amazement and wondered if perhaps I'd stumbled upon my new "death row meal". It's in the running, that's for sure. We disposed of our paper plates (which had been cleaned of every morsel) said Gracias to the lovely woman and what appeared to be her son. I wish I'd said MUCHO GUSTO! I just gave the universal smile and off we went.