- Brain (as food)
Like most other internal organs, the brain can serve as nourishment. This includes the brains of pigs, cattle, monkeys, and in rare circumstances, humans. In many cultures, different types of brain are considered a delicacy.
Cultural consumption
In the
Southern United States , cannedpork brain ingravy can be purchased for consumption as food. This form of brain is often fried withscrambled eggs to produce the famous "Eggs n' Brains". [cite web | author = Lukas, Paul | title = Inconspicuous Consumption: Mulling Brains | work = New York magazine | url = http://www.bozosoft.com/mike/meat/brains-article.html | accessdaymonth = 14 October | accessyear = 2005 ] . They are part of the menu in many family owned restaurants thoughout the region.The brain of animals also features in
French cuisine such as in the dish "tête de veau", or "head of calf". Although it sometimes consists only of the outer meat of the skull andjaw , the full meal includes the brain,tongue , andgland s.Similar delicacies from around the world include Mexican "
taco s de sesos" made with cattle brain as well assquirrel brain in the US South. [cite web | url = http://www.weird-food.com/weird-food-mammal.html | work = Weird-Food.com | title = Weird Foods: Mammal | accessdaymonth = 14 October | accessyear = 2005 ] The Anyang tribe ofCameroon practiced a tradition in which a newtribal chief would consume the brain of a huntedgorilla while another senior member of thetribe would eat the heart. [cite web | url = http://www.berggorilla.de/english/gjournal/texte/18culture.html | author = Meder, Angela | title = Gorillas in African Culture and Medicine | work = Gorilla Journal | accessdaymonth = 14 October | accessyear = 2005 ]Indonesia n cuisine specialty inMinangkabau cuisine also served beef brain in a gravy coconut milk namedgulai otak (beef brain curry). Roasted or fried goat brain is eaten in the south of India and some parts of northern India. InCuban cuisine , "brain fritters" made by coating pieces of brain with bread crumbs and then frying them.In India, certain restaurants serve brain as "
bheja fry ", literally brain fry. It's cooked in its own fat along with standard base used incurry .Risks of eating brain
Fat and cholesterol
Consuming the brain and other nerve tissue of animals is not without risks. The first problem is that the makeup of the brain is 60% fat due to large quantities of
myelin (which itself is 70% fat) insulating the axons of neurons. [cite web | url = http://www.autisminfo.com/dorfman.htm | title = Nutritional Summary: Notes Taken From a Recent Autism Society Meeting | author = Dorfman, Kelly | work = Diet and Autism | accessdaymonth = 14 October | accessyear = 2005 ] As an example, a 140 g can of "pork brains in milk gravy", a single serving, contains 3500 milligrams ofcholesterol , 1170% of theUSRDA rating. [cite web | url = http://thewvsr.com/porkbrains.htm | title = Pork Brains in Milk Gravy | accessdaymonth = 14 October | accessyear = 2005 ]Prions
Brain consumption can result in contracting fatal transmissible spongiform encephalopathies such as Variant
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and otherprion diseases in humans and mad cow disease in cattle. [cite journal | last = Collinge | first = John | date = 2001 | title = Prion diseases of humans and animals: their causes and molecular basis | journal = Annual Review of Neuroscience | volume = 24 | pages = 519–50 | url = http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11283320 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.neuro.24.1.519 | pmid = 11283320 ] Another prion disease called kuru has been traced to a funerary ritual among the Fore people ofPapua New Guinea in which those close to the dead would eat the brain of the deceased to create a sense ofimmortality . [cite journal | last = Collins | first = S | coauthors = McLean CA, Masters CL | date = 2001 | title = Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome,fatal familial insomnia, and kuru: a review of these less common human transmissible spongiform encephalopathies | journal = Journal of Clinical Neuroscience | volume = 8 | issue = 5 | ages = 387–97 | url = http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11535002 | pmid = 11535002 ] Some archaeological evidence suggests that the mourning rituals ofEurope anNeanderthal s also involved the consumption of the brain. [cite book | url = http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ean=9781582432533&displayonly=CHP | title = The Aztec Treasure House | last = Connell | first = Evan S. | publisher = Counterpoint Press | year = 2001 | id = ISBN 1-58243-162-0 ] Because of the risk of being infected by prions one should always wear gloves when handling brains.Wild animals
It is also well-known in the hunting community that the brain of wild animals should not be consumed, due to the risk of
chronic wasting disease . The brain is still useful to hunters, in that most animals have enough brain matter for use in thetanning of their own hides.References
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