# Eating Brains? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871 "2015-01-15T03:06:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/21 "2015-01-15T19:36:39Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > [Nutritious](http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-pork-fresh-brain-i10097)? Not so much. While pork brain is high in protein (it is essentially protein and fat, not much else) and vitamin C, a 3 ounce serving contains as much cholesterol as one should eat in an entire week (2169mg) :eek: Not exactly a “heart healthy” food… > > I have not tried eating brains of any kind, but know many people who do. It would seem that a little goes a long way. I don’t buy into the whole Cholesterol thing. I ate a dozen eggs a day for a year and a half when I was bodybuilding and am no worse for wear. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/22 "2015-01-15T19:46:50Z")
I once had calf brains, fried I think. They were good. That was long before we had heard of mad cow disease. I would hesitate now, although I haven’t heard of a case in a long time. Kuru? I think you can get that only from brains of H. sapiens. I haven’t heard anything of mad pig disease. But I would fry them. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/23 "2015-01-15T20:45:07Z")
A long time ago I bought fresh calf brains on impulse, took them home and scrambled them up with some eggs. Urk. horrible stuff. Two bites and the rest went in the garbage. Only later did I learn that you have to remove the membranes :smack: Years later I had an authentic Mexican taco made with fried brains highly seasoned with lots of cilantro and og knows whatall else, it had a light flavor and texture of beef heart, and was delicious. Guess it’s all in the preparation… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/24 "2015-01-15T21:35:04Z")
It seems that [fried brain sandwiches](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried-brain_sandwich) are big in St. Louis. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/25 "2015-01-15T21:43:28Z")
I had eggs and brains tacos at a breakfast place in Laredo TX years ago. It wasn’t a whole lot different from plain scrambled egg tacos. Just a hint of organ meat flavor. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/26 "2015-01-15T22:38:34Z")
I can’t wait to have “[chilled monkey brain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNZ63iwnn5M)” for dessert. I wonder if I could learn to “Kali ma” it out of the monkey? > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I once had calf brains, fried I think. They were good. That was long before we had heard of mad cow disease. I would hesitate now, although I haven’t heard of a case in a long time. Kuru? I think you can get that only from brains of H. sapiens. I haven’t heard anything of mad pig disease. But I would fry them. The general term is “(Transmissible) spongiform encephalopathy.” They get more specific names depending on the species: (Bovine, Feline, or exotic ungulate) spongiform encephalopathy, Scrapie (sheep), Chronic wasting disease (deer etc.). In humans it is normally Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Kuru is mostly in the population of Papua New Guinea, where they previously ate the brains of (infected ancestors). It can also be non-transmitted: the awful Fatal familial insomnia is inherited. I just heard of Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/27 "2015-01-15T22:53:33Z")
In my experience, most hog heads are used to make [head cheese](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_cheese). It’s not my cup of tea, but I know several people that love it. ---
**Author:** ![buddy431](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@buddy431](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddy431)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/28 "2015-01-16T00:25:05Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > In my experience, most hog heads are used to make [head cheese](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_cheese). It’s not my cup of tea, but I know several people that love it. That Wikipedia page says that, at least traditionally, the brains were removed in making head cheese. Is that how it’s still done, or do they just put in everything? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/29 "2015-01-16T00:50:07Z")
See also: [smalahove](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smalahove), which may or may not have brains inside. See also, many other bovine or ovine face preparations across cultures. Face is delicious; one of the biggest culinary revelations was when someone told me you could scrape out the cheeks of trout. ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/30 "2015-01-16T01:06:44Z")
> [@buddy431](#): > > That Wikipedia page says that, at least traditionally, the brains were removed in making head cheese. Is that how it’s still done, or do they just put in everything? My grandma used to make headcheese quite often and I don’t remember her ever putting or leaving the brains in. If I did a blind taste test with hers and store bought sandwich meat packed headcheese I don’t think I would be able to tell the difference. It’s just meat that has been cooked in a broth and reduced to the point that when you cool it, it gels into a substance that has chunks of meat suspended in it, pretty much like making jello with chunks of fruit suspended in it. You need to skim the fat off of it and probably give it a stir at some point before it absolutely sets to re-suspend the chunks of meat in an even fasion. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/31 "2015-01-16T01:08:13Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I can’t wait to have “[chilled monkey brain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNZ63iwnn5M)” for dessert. I wonder if I could learn to “Kali ma” it out of the monkey? I thought that might be a scene from _Faces Of Death_. Fake, but graphic and presented as real. [Truly disgusting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjRdxuByd2g) ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/32 "2015-01-16T01:37:14Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Damn, my mother used to make scrambled eggs and calves’ brains that were delicious. No comparison to the headcheese she made, though. A cold headcheese sandwich on toasted rye bread. Yummy. Now I’m hungry. Used to be a little joint in Salt Lake City called Bill ‘n Nada’s that served scrambled eggs and calves’ brains. To those of us who, in our misspent youth, drank till we were dumb in SLC at the private clubs, it was the perfect thing to order at the traditional wee-hours 3:00 a.m. breakfast. Kind of a rite of passage, but I actually liked them. I don’t know if the place is still there or if they still serve scrambled eggs and brains. Worth a stop if they do and you haven’t tried them. Re head cheese, no, you don’t use the brains or eyeballs in making it. You basically simmer a pig’s head with herbs and spices until all the meaty bits come off, then strain the broth, de-fat, separate out the meat. Simmer the de-fatted broth until reduced. Then layer the meats with the broth and some parsley, pour it all into a terrine and let the natural gelatine do its thing. Waste not, want not. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/33 "2015-01-16T01:56:02Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Damn, my mother used to make scrambled eggs and calves’ brains that were delicious Scrambled eggs and brains was supposedly my German grandfather’s favorite meal. Never tried it myself. Certainly, they’re edible and some people enjoy them. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/34 "2015-01-16T01:56:51Z")
I thought that dietary cholesterol didn’t actually make much difference to one’s cholesterol levels. Diet matters, but it’s more the fats you eat that get converted to cholesterol than the cholesterol itself. ---
**Author:** ![SuperAbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@SuperAbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperAbe)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/35 "2015-01-16T05:43:09Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Used to be a little joint in Salt Lake City called Bill ‘n Nada’s that served scrambled eggs and calves’ brains… I don’t know if the place is still there or if they still serve scrambled eggs and brains. Worth a stop if they do and you haven’t tried them. Bill passed away in 1999 and the restaurant closed for a week or so for his funeral…and never reopened. The iconic building that was pretty much the same from 1946 to 1999 was torn down shortly thereafter. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/36 "2015-01-16T05:55:53Z")
The impact of dietary cholesterol on blood cholesterol may turn out to be variable based on genetics with some fairly few people very exquisitely sensitive to it ([go vegan level](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/advice-from-a-vegan-cardiologist/?_r=0)), most much less so and some not all. Indeed it seem likely that it is other aspects of foods we eat that play a much much bigger role for most of us, with high [MUFAs](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10584045) and omega 3 intake being important as well as low intake of refined carbs. > [@](#): > > Researchers have long known that the relationship between the dietary cholesterol found in food and the cholesterol that circulates in the blood is complicated, varying greatly from one person to the next. In many people, the cholesterol in food has only a minor or negligible effect on blood cholesterol levels. But in some people, the effect can be more pronounced … [Nutritionally brain](http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/lamb-veal-and-game-products/4656/2) is high in cholesterol, a 3 ounce serving containing more than a dozen eggs worth. Reasonably high in fat and saturated fat but also pretty damn high in MUFAs and omega 3s - not far off from [salmon](http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4259/2). I don’t think I’d like the texture - tongue creeps me out and I hate flan - but our Paleolithic ancestors certainly ate brains … for what that is worth. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/37 "2015-01-16T07:49:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I thought that dietary cholesterol didn’t actually make much difference to one’s cholesterol levels. Diet matters, but it’s more the fats you eat that get converted to cholesterol than the cholesterol itself. Wait, so I can eat whole eggs again? ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/38 "2015-01-16T09:35:06Z")
> [@SuperAbe](#): > > Bill passed away in 1999 and the restaurant closed for a week or so for his funeral…and never reopened. The iconic building that was pretty much the same from 1946 to 1999 was torn down shortly thereafter. ☹ I saw that and thought “which bill passed” relating to this thread. Sad. sounds like a cool place and at least he didn’t die on capitol hill. ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/39 "2015-01-16T09:41:09Z")
> [@SpeedwayRyan](#): > > Your username fits here pretty well too, ya know. I like the username: Richard Fitswell, but you can call me Dick! ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871/40 "2015-01-16T14:04:34Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Well, so long as they’re reasonable about it. I mean, it’s not like they’re eating the eyes, after all. Hmm, here is a good [article](http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/03/06/172902511/eating-eyeballs-taboo-or-tasty) on eating eyes, but danged if I can much find nutritional information… WAIT! [Here ya go](http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/ethnic-foods/8080/2), nutrition information for Beluga whale eyeballs. This is the Straight Dope, after all! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-brains/709871.md?page=3)