# Serving animal dishes with the head attached...ewww...why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156 "2021-02-17T19:40:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/41 "2021-02-18T04:46:54Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > On a lot of animals, cheek meat is some of the tastiest. That’s true of fish, it’s true on roast pork and it’s true on beef. Years ago I took an anthropology course on food and the class got to eat some pretty darn tasty middle eastern food. One of the dishes served was a sheep’s head and I tried some cheek meat. It wasn’t bad, but like frog legs, I just couldn’t get past what I was eating and didn’t have a whole lot of it. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/42 "2021-02-18T05:03:52Z")
As I pointed out in an earlier thread, Newfoundland fishermen sell the cod-fish to the processing plant without the head – they keep that and eat it themselves. The cheeks and tongue really is the best part. Personally, I prefer the tongue over any other part of a beef, also. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/43 "2021-02-18T05:09:42Z")
Awwww…come on dopers…42 posts with "Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads, fish heads, fish heads eat them up yum! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn73Wtem0No](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn73Wtem0No) ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/44 "2021-02-18T05:20:32Z")
Oh…we First World are so privileged to think about not having to eat anything that disagrees with our perceptions of how food should look and be presented. “I don’t like it, so NO ONE should!”, “I don’t want to see anything that attached to or from inside that animal that lost it’s life so we can see and enjoy only the most presentable (not necessarily tasty) parts!” ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/45 "2021-02-18T05:31:06Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > As I pointed out in an earlier thread, Newfoundland fishermen sell the cod-fish to the processing plant without the head – they keep that and eat it themselves. The cheeks and tongue really is the best part. Personally, I prefer the tongue over any other part of a beef, also. I had roommates from Newfoundland and they once asked me if I’d ever had cod tongue. I replied that I didn’t know cod had tongues and they looked at me as if I’d grown another head. But as God is my witness I had no idea cod had tongues. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/46 "2021-02-18T07:00:21Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I’ve never actually tried chicken feet. Many Jews hold that it isn’t real chicken soup if it doesn’t include the feet. Right. And the feet are mighty tasty. My _bubbe_ used to make fish-head soup, then suck out the eyes and brains. We young-uns would have none of it. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/47 "2021-02-18T11:56:31Z")
I always wondered about chicken, where is the mear? They look like bone with a thin skin to me. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/48 "2021-02-18T12:45:09Z")
Not only do we find it distasteful, people who like it with the head on are uncivilized. Meat comes wrapped in plastic on a styrofoam tray. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/49 "2021-02-18T13:07:31Z")
BSE only applies to cattle, although sheep have long had something broadly similar called scrapie. These days most people will not eat brains any animal. I’m told they are delicious, but I would not eat them either , and I will eat most things. Ditto for eyeballs, and yes, some people regard them as a delicacy. Fun fact concerning sheep and roast meat with the head still: the favorite dish of James I of England (and also James VI of Scotland) was a sheep’s head cooked in butter. With the wool still on. ---
**Author:** ![Summerday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@Summerday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Summerday)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/50 "2021-02-18T14:13:16Z")
OP, you’re probably on your first step to vegetarianism/veganism. At least that how it went for me. Seeing the head on the animal was something I just couldn’t handle. Then I started feeling really guilty about throwing out meat that I let go bad in the fridge…I was like this animal lost its life so that I could be lazy and not cook it in time and throw it out…he or she basically died for no reason. Then I slowly started feeling more and more guilty about eating meat at all so I started eating less and less until I eventually stopped altogether and here I am 10 years later still a vegetarian and working my way up to vegan. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/51 "2021-02-18T14:18:36Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > When you say roast I’m picturing a cut of beef. It would be very, very unusual to see a cow’s head attached to a roast at most Christmas dinners. Although I’m now quite impressed with what must be the size of his roasting pan. ( Does it fit inside a regular XL appliance stove/cooker/oven/jitney? Did you build a specialty brick oven for it like some of the high-end pizza places do…? Charcoal or wood burning…? ) ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/52 "2021-02-18T14:31:01Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Is it the accusatory stare? 😈 Or the one in a billion chance that in the middle of dinner, the head might arch upwards and say, [“I’ll swallow your soul…! I’ll swallow your soul…!”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mv6bwo6RCo&ab_channel=UnquotaFlick) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/53 "2021-02-18T14:52:40Z")
My freshman roommate wouldn’t eat anything that looked like it used to be an animal. So she’d eat hamburger, but not steak. She also knew this was an irrational preference on her part. I wonder if she still eats meat? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/54 "2021-02-18T15:17:34Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And let’s not even get started with “[head cheese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_cheese)”. > > Sorry I even mentioned it. It’s fine with horse radish and dark bread, rye for instance, [russian style Borodinsky bread](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borodinsky_bread) or [pumpernickel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpernickel). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/55 "2021-02-18T15:41:01Z")
Head cheese is just meat jello with spices added. Yum! ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/56 "2021-02-18T16:02:26Z")
About 25 years ago while on vacation in northern New Mexico we saw frozen, whole, skinned sheep heads for sale in a small, independent grocery store in a small town. My wife wouldn’t let me get one. (Is the post appropriate for this thread? The heads were no longer attached.) ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/57 "2021-02-18T16:06:59Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > On a lot of animals, cheek meat is some of the tastiest. Absolutely. Cod cheeks are delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/58 "2021-02-18T16:08:23Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I had roommates from Newfoundland and they once asked me if I’d ever had cod tongue. I replied that I didn’t know cod had tongues and they looked at me as if I’d grown another head. But as God is my witness I had no idea cod had tongues. I have a wife from Newfoundland. I’ve eaten plenty of cod tongue. And cheeks. Not to mention moose. And seal. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/59 "2021-02-18T16:09:30Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > moose. And seal. Not moose and squirrel? ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156/60 "2021-02-18T16:12:50Z")
No, they’re not into eating squirrels up there. But if were from Kentucky, instead of New York, perhaps our union would have produced a wonderful new fusion cuisine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serving-animal-dishes-with-the-head-attached-ewww-why/933156.md?page=4)