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]
12-30-2008 @12:20AM screamingfresh.com said... I’ve probably heard it a hundred times, “Brains are a delicacy.” But I can’t imagine any situation where I would be desperate enough to want a can of brains.
Where does the list of delicacies come from?
Jeff
http://screamingfresh.com
Reply
12-29-2008 @2:34PM Angela said... That just does NOT look good. I know that if I didn't know what I was eating, I might not mind, but I can assure you, that I wouldn't eat that on purpose. :D
Angela from Aberdeen
Reply
12-29-2008 @2:36PM Dr. Electro said... My mother fed me brains and eggs throughout my childhood. I never cared for them. Now, I don't dare eat that much salt.
Of course my mother used fresh brains from the beast we had just butchered ourselves. As they say in the Orient, "We used everything but the moo."
Reply
12-29-2008 @2:46PM Hammer said... Oh my.
I've served tins of meat to my pets that looked more appetising then those pink chunks. Urg.
Reply
12-29-2008 @2:44PM Julie said... My father ate brains with scrambled eggs when I was a kid. I tried them they were not bad....just pretty gross to think about. I can't imagine a canned version, I am pretty sure that I would never pop the top open on that can.
http://www.noshtalgia.blogspot.com/
Reply
12-29-2008 @3:09PM brian rountree said... The other thing to note, as I have a can of those at my desk, is the cholesterol rating for your breakfast.
That little can of pork brains in milk gravy has 3190mg of cholesterol accounting for 1060% of your daily recommended intake.
Huzzah!
Reply
12-29-2008 @3:44PM Rt said... My mother, 86, speaks about eating fried brains (my fault for not remembering if those were with eggs).
I believe those were beef brains tho, and certainly not in a can. I need to remember to ask her for more details - again.
She describes the flavor to be like liver (beef), which I happen to enjoy, so maybe I would like it.
Another comparison she makes is to fried oysters, but I make no sense of that. I do, however, love a fried oyster Po-boy - plus number two.
Still, the days of the butcher are fading and only high-priced specialty shops will carry the stuff. Odd, since it was once a commodity.
Reply
12-29-2008 @4:07PM branwine said... Eeeewwwwwww! I was eating lental soup when i read this I almost barfed! Besides the whole mad cow thing why would you want to eat any brains unless you were a zombie!
Reply
12-29-2008 @6:53PM Gobo said... Barf away, branwine, barf away.
Reply
12-29-2008 @11:18PM Michael said... All the old people here in eastern NC swear that brains are the most delicious thing on the planet but I just can't bring myself to put something that looks like that in my mouth.
Reply
12-30-2008 @6:45AM OneIrishRover said... O good God! That is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen on a plate. My stomach is rolling here and I cannot believe I got up at 5am to start my day with that! Shooey! Ack!
Reply
12-30-2008 @7:49AM Alexi said... This ranks just below Balut on my long list of things that I would only consider eating for money or if my life depended on it. Props for being such an adventurous eater!
Reply
12-30-2008 @8:38AM Jessi said... Every now and then I get an urge to have some Underwood brand Deviled Ham with scrambled eggs and buttery toast...I will leave the brains to zombies
Reply
12-30-2008 @2:51PM Karmella said... in mexico we have brain tacos, i have neder tried them, but my father like them (though my mother doesnt let him eat them because of all the fat and cholesterol)
Reply
12-30-2008 @4:56PM Veronica said... My rule of thumb is no eating neurological tissue of any kind because the very idea of prion diseases freaks me out. And anyway, it sounds like a less-pleasant version of spam & eggs, which is already questionable enough for me (though I do eat it every now and then)!
Reply
3-27-2009 @4:48PM Luscious Lars Anderson said... SAY DO WHAT NOW? Damn, ya'll got me straight trippin'!!
Reply