Perhaps this is just indicative of the sort of folks with whom I keep company, but I've known at least half a dozen people who've used a brain can as comedic decor, and it's certainly been the butt of jokes around the blogosphere. I cannot, however, recollect any of 'em actually popping the top and feasting. My husband's Aunt Frances, though, couldn't get enough of them as a kid in Plymouth, NC, and told me how she'd hover right by her mother in the kitchen so she could gobble down brains and eggs straight out of the hot skillet.
Who am I to argue with Aunt Frances? I picked up the can in the picture above at Harris Teeter over Christmas in North Carolina, and fixed myself some brains and eggs for breakfast this morning. Picture after the jump.
Verdict -- I can't say I'd go back for a second can, but I certainly wasn't offended. Once they were cooked, that was. The release of the lid (which I had to pry off with pliers after the delicate ring snapped off in a "Turn back while you still have the chance!" warning) unleashed an almost vominously fishy cat food smell, but I was not to be deterred. I heated up a skillet and sauteed the chunky pink contents until warmed through, and then scrambled in a single egg until the brains were semi-incorporated, and it resembled the idyllic image on the can.
The main note throughout was salt, salt, and more salt, underscored by a pungency I tend to associate with cured and canned fish. This association was only strengthened by the large chunks' textural resemblance to the softly chalky mouthfeel of the spinal segment omnipresent in just about every dirt cheap can of salmon I chawed down as a starving grad student. If one were in the mood for a serious morning saline shock and short of cash for tinned anchovies, these brains wouldn't be a bad way to go.
I'm just gonna try really hard not to think about what that weird, hard chunk I bit into might have been.
If you wanna get all fancy about your canned pork brains, try this:
The Honorable Howard Coble
United States Congressman, North Carolina
Specialty Recipe
Favorite Breakfast "Brains N' Eggs"
When I was a youngster, my mom used to prepare Brains N' Eggs for breakfast. It was a fairly regular breakfast, not at all unusual. So that's when I started eating them. I've enjoyed them ever since, but I can't find any on Capitol Hill. I'll admit the name of the dish is not the most appetizing, but try 'em, you might like 'em!
Ingredients
2-1/2 Tablespoons bacon grease
4 eggs
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 can (5 ounce) pork brains in gravy (Rose Brand preferred)
Melt bacon grease in an iron skillet on low heat. Add pork brains to heated grease. Stir with a fork. Add salt and pepper and stir. Whisk eggs and milk together. Increase heat and add egg mixture to brains. Scramble to desired consistency. Serve immediately over toast. For a truly southern dish, serve with grits and apple butter.
Serves: 2
[via: Congress Cooks]
What Can I Get You Folks? - Server Revenge
Reality-Show Celebrities Serve Up Chef Curtis Stone's 'Hundred-Dollar Burger'
Foods Celebrity Chefs Hate
