Brains!

[maogirl]

got DSL now, so i can finally contribute to this forum!

here is my "cooking with brains" post with matching pics. (i wrote it last year for my blog originally.)

Brains Expert

Not those kinds of brains! Although I might be in serious need of those, too.

I donít know why itís the Chinese people who get hit with the ìeat anythingî tag. I donít think any of my relatives have ever eaten a cowís brains, much less seen them. (Fortunately, I am a pioneer.) Italians eat something called lardo, too. What youíre thinking is correct: it is indeed lard. To be precise, itís a strip of bacon with just the fat and no meat. Of course, I had to try it. It melted on my tongue and was quite good, but I think I mightíve shortened my life by 3 months.

I wasnít sure how to make brains (stop laughing), so I had to ask for tips from the butcher.

He told me I had to remove all the bits of bone that were embedded in the brain from when they shattered the cowís skull. And yes, thatís how he said it. Heís quite a descriptive butcher. I also had to remove all the veins and wash the brain until the water ran clear of blood.


http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/maogirl/brain1.jpg
Brains pre-cleaning. I did worry about mad cow for a small bit.

I have to say, it did make me a little bit nauseated to clean the brains. As you might expect, raw brains feel exactly the way they look. I didnít expect so much blood and bone to come out, either.


http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/maogirl/brain2.jpg
Peopleís brains are probably just as tasty.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/maogirl/brain3.jpg


http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/maogirl/brain4.jpg

Slicing the brains was the worst. The cauliflower-looking bits just gave me the willies for some reason. I also forgot to ask if I could eat the bit of brain stem that was there, too.

The butcher recommended doing a KFC but I wasnít sure how to season the brains, so I just dipped them unseasoned into rice flour.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/maogirl/brain5.jpg
I also got another bout of willies from the buildup of sticky, wet flour on my fingers and under my nails.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/maogirl/brain6.jpg
I realized that I donít know the fat content of brains, but I bet it falls within the Atkins parameters.

Well, brains taste like you would expectÖDELICIOUS! I fucked up by making pasta to go with it. I shouldíve made rice instead, and mashed the brains up in them. Still, it was very creamy and rich-tasting. I only had a couple of moments of wanting to regurgitate dinner (mostly when I was thinking of the cauliflower things). Itís really better not to know what the thing youíre eating looked like before it got cooked.

I had to pause a little bit in the middle of the meal just to unwilliefy myself. I did finish everything, although now I feel kind of queasy because my tongue feels oily. I blame it on the oil I used for frying, though.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/maogirl/brain7.jpg
Eaten with fava beans and a nice Chianti

[ellencho]

How cool are you? I've never eaten brain of any type myself (knowingly at least). I'm not surprised that it had a creamy taste/texture bceause it's not a muscle at all.

I have to admit I'm pretty wimpy in the organs department when it comes to meat. I'm cool with certain types of tripe, fois gras and with sweetbreads but I've never had brains before. From what I remember, I don't think that Italy is a mad-cow infected country so you don't really have to worry about getting sick from eating cow brain in Italy but I know in the US we're not allowed to eat brain or anything spinal column related in anything over 18 months old. So that makes it hard for me to find oxtail at a decent price bceause not only are there less cows that are young enough for butchering, but we're also competing with restaurants for the oxtail since it's become a trendy cut of meat as of late.

Cool pics and if you want a good fried chicken recipe let me know so next time you eat brains you can use the batter.

[maogirl]

oh, i'd love to have that recipe! i've only ever made brains one other time for my sister. it wasn't as nauseating the 2nd time around making it, but it's a pain in the ass to clean.

i've had it grilled at a restaurant here, it was pretty good like that.

yeah, you're right, they don't have mad cow here in italy. i once got busted at customs for bringing over sour cream and butter from england. it was like a total drug bust, people screaming at me, threats of jail and fines, etc. i got off, though, i just played the dumb tourist card.

hehe funny enough, i had a bag full of illegal narcotics and i wasn't exactly sober at the time. they KNEW but they were like, "bloody sour cream! and butter!"

[minbo]

I've had lamb brain, but not directly. It was an Italian dish where you take an entire lamb head with most of the meat removed and boil the heck out of it. The brain dissolves and forms a "scum" on top of the water with the fat, connective tissue, cartlidge, etc. You take the scum and pack it like cheese or frois gras into a form, let it sit and gel and serve.

In general I avoid brain and nervous tissue due to paranoia about prion disease like Scrapie/vCJD//Kuru. There is some thought that Kuru which became prevelant in New Guniea was scrapie that jumped species barriers as the time it flared up was after sheep with scrapie were introduced to the local populace and had taken hold as a common livestock animal. You never know when prion disease will cross species barrier, current concern in the US also being the Mule Deer/CWD which you are not supposed to consume.

[vsoy]

When we did cow brain dissections in high school, cauliflower and barfing kept popping up in my mind. Lab was during the middle of the day and most people had lunch during that time except for cow brain week.

It's definitely an acquired adult taste to eat things that taste really good but at the same time makes you want to throw up. Durian comes to mind. You kind of wonder what people were thinking when they come up with recipes with unusual ingredients, "Geez, it's is really stinky/gross/sitting around for a couple of months, but I'm really hungry. Let's eat it" :lol:

[cattygurl]

^^ You too, mimbo? I'm paranoid to the point where I only buy my beef direct from several farms, and that's it. The prion diseases are scary as fuck... GAH.

[Subwaybrum]

My mum made me and the family some lamb brain soup several years ago, the brain itself was pretty tasteless i remembered... :?

reminds me of all the night of the living dead/zombie movies

"Brainsssszzz"
"More Brains!"

[awong]

I wouldn't be surprised if I did eat brains, I just can't remember if I did, better go ask my mom since she probably remembers.

[maogirl]

hmm...brain in soup? wouldn't it just fall apart? interesting.


awong...was that a cuban dish?

[ric]

got DSL now,

Welcome to 21st century!
:lol:



This is post by far most disgusting visually I have seen here on this forum

[awong]

hmm...brain in soup? wouldn't it just fall apart? interesting.


awong...was that a cuban dish?
I wouldn't be surprised if it was. . .(haven't asked yet, parents went to siblings baseball game)

but I do ear pig feet, cow tongue, lamb and thats cuban cooked.

[angi]

BSE and general willies keeps me away from brains.

But this thread is highly interesting and entertaining. Much thanks to maogirl for starting a thread dedicated to the culinary tastes of zombies :wink:

Come on now, you know I am joking.

[ellencho]

MG, do you have access to buttermilk out there in Italy? Because you need it to fry up some crispy brains.

1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
Salt and whatever spices you like
Mix these things together. The mixture will thicken up a bit.

Flour and a touch of salt
Now dredge your brains in a bit of salt and flour (regular white wheat flour is fine) and then dip it into your liquid mixture, then back into the flour. Then fry them up in like ~3 cm/1 inch of oil.

[awong]

my mom said cuban people eat cow brains. though she never bought any, she knows friends that have and seen it at the market.

I think cuban people just like eating cow boy parts

[maogirl]

awong, mmm...ox tongue is good. have you ever had lengua de leche? it's boiled in milk, so good.

how is brain prepared in cuban cuisine?

ellen, thanks for the recipe! you're right though, you can't get buttermilk here. :? if i'm not mistaken, though, i could make my own buttermilk by adding a few drops of lemon juice to skim milk, right?

angi, hehe, i should've named this thread zombie food.

one day i'm going to the butcher's and taking a pic of all the brains on display there.

[cattygurl]

Buttermilk substitute:

1 c. milk plus 1 tbsp. lemon juice

Let stand 5 minutes. Beat well.

That's been the best ratio in terms of ending with a substitute that's not too tangy or too bland.[/quote]

[ellencho]

Speaking of dairy and acid? Have any of you guys out there ever made your own paneer (indian cheese). I used to suck at it and it used to taste like crap. But then I figured out that I could use buttermilk as my acid instead of vinegar or lemon juice and I end up with a really nice product.

[vsoy]

I love Indian food, ate at Indian friends' houses,but I don't think I ever had paneer oddly enough. Is it a northern Indian food? Ok I'll bite :lol: what do you eat it with and what is it like? I guessing like like a young soft cheese like ricotta?

[ellencho]

Paneer can be firm or can be soft depending on how you prepare it. It can go into savory and sweet dishes. I usually serve it with spiced chopped spinach sort of cut into cubes. But sometimes people crumble it and put it in their flatbreads. It has a rich dairy flavor and is really easy to use.

Here's a link for making your own paneer.

http://www.suvir.com/paneer.html

[maogirl]

oh lord, spinach paneer!! drool...