Brain is Food, but what isn't?

This will be sort of a silly topic, but suddenly I am very curious. I was reading about the Brain at Wiki and it mentioned its edibility. Obviously I know people have eaten brains of all sorts of creatures, including humans, but I never really thought about it except "yuck".It mentioned that brains n beans is actually a canned commodity in the south US. Is this true? Has anyone tried it? Well what I am really interested in is, has anyone ever eaten brain ever?It said that brains are 60% fat due to myelin which made me think.. does that mean they are sweet and really tasty? Most fats are delicious!Note: People can also discuss whatever out of the ordinary foods they may have eaten, and what they were like. I'm dull, the strangest thing I have eaten is tentacles. They were rather tasteless, slimy, and not pleasantly chewey in a fibrous sort of way.This ought to help people generate ideas for their holiday feasts.

Thanks to everyone so far. It looks like Dads are pretty sick people.The Wiki article I read mentioned that Calf Brain is a favorite of Jacques Chirac. You think Bush could have made use of that at some point.Did your dad mention what it tasted like to him/why he liked it?

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

I was looking for a good descriptor. Yours is more specific and accurate. If I were to get more specific (for my experience) it would be like a thin strip of chicken with bits of bike innertube inside.It would not be surprising to learn that I was eating at a lower end restaurant. It wasn't a dive, but it wasn't classy... and it was in a redneck town.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

Just this year I was introduced to chorizo susages. I thought they were pretty damn tasty. Salivary glands? uhhhhh...

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

So far this was pretty interesting, but it seems to have only whet my appetite. More brains please... or whatever.I'll back that eating squirrel does not seem linked to poverty or even lack of education. When I was in college I had a dorm mate that went around shooting squirrels and cooking them up in our lounge kitchen. The guy had complete access to food so it wasn't like he was starving or something. He just really liked it and wanted to have it every week or so.Looked like chicken to me, and didn't smell bad. I did feel it was sort of creepy for a student to be wandering around campus picking off squirrels.If he had handed out squirrel heads, or sucked brains out of them in front other students there probably would have been a pretty big scene.And I cannot fathom eating live animals. I have seen such things on tv, it repulses me. I am intrigued if anyone has tried that personally. Is there some added kick to doing that or something?

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

Awesome. I like this from one of the reviews... That last item reminds me that there are actually huge events held for eating testicles. Anyone care to share?

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

Descriptors please. What was the experience like, and how would you describe the taste, smell, texture of the items?Are these things you would eat again?

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

Have an idea what kind of flavor? As I said since I read it is supposed to be mainly fat I kind of got the idea it might be sweetish (like many fats). What kind and how was it?

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

Okay testicles, maybe, but... ... who'd want to eat a boy band?Seriously, thanks for the vivid description.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

I think the wrong guy is named omniverous. Highly interesting!

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

Ahhhhhhh yes. Every time I see that at Albert Hein I feel like I'm encountering something from a lovecraft nightmare.I actually stare at it for a few moments (every time), mesmerized, trying to make out all the different life forms.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

I agree that they certainly can be taught, and like sexual tastes there will be a social component of assumed correct/incorrect cuisine. Then again I think there are some which appear and disappear for reasons I cannot figure out.When I was very young I pretty much ate anything. My parents were both open to everything, and indeed my dad was one of those guys that would pretty much eat anything and everything.Suddenly I began changing, much to the anger of my parents. Certain foods, including foods I used to love, became not just uninteresting but repellant. My "edible food" list shrank to a very small list. Picky eater is almost too kind. The sight and smell of people eating eggs was as nauseating as if they were eating grubs.This remained until somewhere in late puberty. One by one I'd become "open" to eating something new. This process was very slow and I did not become a relatively nonpicky eater till over a decade later. Of course by then I had a physical condition which screwed up my desire to eat anyway.This may be why I am fascinated with the diversity of diets. I went from open, to almost total revulsion, back toward "normalcy". I figure I can learn something I am unlikely to learn first hand, from those that devour the world around them.I have to admit, I always (and this is probably cultural) found the ideas of brain eating repulsive, but when I heard "fat" and thought "sweet", I became... curious.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

Fair enough. I assumed you were discussing your diet for knowledge anyway, and its first come first served... I mean finders keepers... here for names.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

I believe I have had venison and buffalo. I was sort of young at the time but it was something different than usual fare. It didn't seem different enough for me to note as it was a "normal" part of the body and seemed almost like regular beef to me. That's pretty cool and I've heard it is customary in a few cultures (someone mentioned Native Americans, but I believe there are some African tribes as well). Frankly it makes sense to me. I've never gone hunting (well I did but we never saw anything), but did a lot of fishing and I pretty much always felt like apologizing to the fish.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)