Brain is Food, but what isn't?

A college classmate of my husband's once gave him, as a joke, a can of sheep's brains in milk gravy.A southern boy, he was, I believe.I've never eaten brains but I would in Paris or someplace else where organ meats are celebrated and they know how to make them good.From what I know, brains are delicate in flavor and texture and can be easily overcooked.Some things I've eaten that would be considered unusual by many people in the US:strips of fried pig's ears
raw fish, fish eggs, and shellfish of all sorts, including octopus
calf's kidneys
candied whole tiny fish
bugsThis message has been edited by schrafinator, 12-22-2005 12:38 PM

I can't really say what sort of flavor, but I would suspect a sweetness to be present, as you do.I ate a roasted cricket once.crunchy with a little squishy bit. It was OK, but not that exciting, nor gross.Oh, and I've had turtle and tripe, as well.Love both of those.

I believe that the only things that are not considered food by humans universally are hair and fur. There may be one more thing but I can't remember and the book they are in is currently packed (The Man Who Are Everything by Jeffery Steingarten---I highly recommend it to everyone)Anyway, we are taught almost all of our food prejudices and picky eaters are made, not born.

It is not unusual for children around the 5-12 age range to become very conservative in what they eat, even if they were very accepting of new foods previously.There might be an evolutionary basis, as this is the age where children are independent enough to start to forage for food themselves, but have not learned enough about how to identify what is wholesome to eat and what is not. It's safer to limit the variety.This must be combined, though, with the cultural reality in most western societies which almost always have a relative abundance of foods available, and the tendency for parents to cater to the whims of their children instead of persisting with introducing them to new foods. OTOH, control issues can lead children to limit their food variety because they know it drives their parents nuts. Kids also have spending money and can eat all sorts of junk food, and we also have all sorts of body image pressures and health fears wrapped up in food choices, too.