Los pies de vaca!! COW FEET!

I remember one summer night going out for cuchifrito (the BEST Puerto Rican food) una noche in SpaHa (Spanish Harlem) with my fav Rican . We sat at the counter and waited for our food as this big Boriqua woman told us her tips for staying cool in her barrio during the hot New Yorican summer. One way was to sleep naked on her fire escape. Hmmm...to each his (or her) own.

Either way this man suddenly ran into the little shop and right up to the counter and said: "Dame una LENGUA!" (Translation: Get me 1 TONGUE right away!). This middle aged man was instantly served on a bare plate this long "Lengua" which he chopped up into several sections and munched up right away and then headed back out into the summer night.

I thought of that memory instantly as my host mom served to me on a plate just a huge pile of pap (just like really thick cream of wheat) and 2 COW FEET, or hoof if you will in the TV room tonight (where we always eat dinner). The outside of the foot reminded me of elephant skin, grey and it looked thick. All my mind could think of was how gelatin used to come from horses hooves, or didn't it?

I took my fork and slivered off a 10 cm x 10 cm piece and then brought the fork to my mouth. The piece of foot slipped off my fork back onto my plate and just gave a little jiggle. Oy! I picked it up again and just stuffed it in my mouth and closed my eyes as if that one action would turn off all my senses, especially that of taste. It didn't work.

Bottom line: try new foods, I just wouldn't recommend a cow foot.