When I heard that the MedNeuro newsletter was doing an issue on food and the brain, I naturally jumped at the chance to write an article. The excitement! The fun! The opportunity to explore a new frontier… in culinary arts. Yes, dear reader, this is an article all about cooking and eating brains.
But Are Brains Edible?
The short answer is “of course”! Like almost every other part of the body, the brain and spinal cord may be used from an animal to prepare various dishes. In fact, brain consumption in one form or another is practiced by groups worldwide. In Western Europe and North America, brain consumption is decreasing, as more desirable cuts of meat become more widespread and affordable. While you may not be able to find brain at the local Lidl or Netto, specialty butchers in Berlin will occasionally have calf brains for sale. Elsewhere in the world, brain still forms an important part of a traditional diet. For example, in Mexico, one can sometimes find “tacos de sesos”, while in parts of Indonesia, “gulai otak” (beef brain curry) is very popular.
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| Photo Giddy, "Brain Candy" |
But Are Brains Safe to Eat?
In addition to changing demand for more “user-friendly” types of meat, brain consumption has decreased to concerns about its safety. Most readers are probably familiar with the string of deaths linked to Mad Cow (aka Creutzfeld-Jakob) Disease in the mid-1990s. This condition is still poorly understood, but is believed to stem from proliferation of prions in the brains and spinal cords of cattle that were fed remnants of other animals who died of the disease [1]. Humans who also ate meat from these animals became ill with neurological symptoms, and then swiftly died of generalized brain atrophy. Since the time of the first outbreak, most governments have taken aggressive steps to curtail the use of cattle byproducts as livestock feed, but cases still occasionally pop up every few years.
Consider yourself warned
Another question of brain safety is worth mentioning, though is quite unlikely to apply to most would-be brain consumers: In the 1950s, a strange neurological disease was first noticed among the Fore region of Papua New Guinea. Eventually, the disease later christened “Kuru” was traced to practices of mortuary cannibalism, where family members of a recently deceased person would consume their remains in a gesture of respect. It was later determined to be another form of prion spongiform encephalopathy, much like Creutzfeld-Jakob [1]. These days, outbreaks are much more rare, but due to a long incubation period (2-20 years), cases still pop up [2]. So in case you are considering trying out human brain, consider yourself warned…
But Are They Good for You?
Ironically, brains are probably most dangerous in terms of their nutritional content. As any good neuroscientist knows, a good deal of the brain is formed by fatty myelin-covered axons. Thus, with small differences across species and methods of brain preparation, brain is extremely high in fat and cholesterol! For example, a serving of “pork brains in milk gravy” contains an estimated 1170% of daily-recommended cholesterol intake [3]! On the other hand, brains are also rich in omega fatty acids such as DHA [4]. All of this really takes “brain food” (see"The ABCs of Brain Foods - How to Eat Smart") to a whole new level.
Brain is extremely high in fat
But Are They Tasty?
The most important question of all! Although I’ve eaten some pretty “interesting” dishes in my life, I can’t say that I’ve ever (knowingly) tried brain. I’m a vegetarian, but I’m also quite curious. Hmmm… Perhaps the best thing to do is leave this here for exploratory purposes:
Swabian Brain Soup (Schwaebische Hirnsuppe)
(adapted from http://eatsmarter.de/rezepte/schwaebische-hirnsuppe)
Please note: The editors of the MedNeuro newsletter hold no responsibility for the safety, nutritional value, or tastiness of the following recipe suggestion!
Ingredients:
- 1 onion
- 2 tbs butter
- 2 tbs flour
- 750 ml water or beef stock
- 1 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp grated nutmeg
- 125 ml milk or cream
- 2 tbs chopped parsley or chives
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 veal brain
Instructions:
- Rinse brain with hot water to remove blood and other connective tissue. Chop into small cubes.
- Peel and chop the onion. Saute with butter until golden-brown in a large pot and stir in flour. Pour in water/stock and simmer for 40 minutes. Add salt, nutmeg, and brain, and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
- Finally, add milk/cream, parsley/chives, and stir in the egg yolk. Serve soup hot with crusty bread.
Guten Appetit, and let us know how it goes!
[1] Wadsworth et al, PNAS, 2008
[2] Collinge et al, Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 2008
[3] http://bit.ly/1g5qTPN
[4] http://bit.ly/1CVhbcw
by Constance Holman, PhD student AG Schmitz
This article originally appeared 2015 in CNS Volume 8, Issue 3, Food for Thought.
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