Boreegard's Brains

A COMMENT ON MY TASTE FOR BRAINS

Why do I bother with brains (Calves Brains to be sure)? They become harder and harder to find, and are more expensive than porterhouse steak—though it's interesting to note that James Beard in his THE NEW JAMES BEARD listed them in his section on "offal" (i.e. things to be thrown away).

My sister and I were introduced to them by my mother when we were children. In this, she was very clever. Brains and the other exotic innards such as the lamb kidneys and calves liver that Ma would occasionally cook for herself when Pop was out of town covering a story, were never forced down our gullets. Sally and I were naturally curious, and would ask for a bite, just to see what the taste of these yucky things might be like. After that, there was a time in my life when I insisted on being served brains in black butter and capers as my special birthday meal. My mother gladly complied.

On the other hand, I will report that there was one specimen of viand exotica against which my little sister rebelled. From time to time she and I would be served a firm, pink colored meat that was described as "beef". It went down well enough with liberal doses of mustard, and we each dutifully ate what was on the plate, so as to be eligible for dessert. That all changed the day Sally lifted the cover of the stew pot and discovered that this particular beef cut was a big cow tongue. There is no disguising a tongue, until, that is, it can be carved thinly and served to the unwary. A tongue is a tongue is a tongue. For that matter, a brain is a brain is a brain. Even after simmering it and slicing it, it is hard to disguise.

A NOTE ON THE WAY OTHERS WILL INSTRUCT YOU TO PREPARE BRAINS

You will find, if you go to reliable cookbooks, that those with a recipe for brains will make a big thing about pre-prep. For instance, the Time-Life Book titled FRENCH PROVINCIAL COOKING by M.F.K. Fisher (junior consultant—Julia Child) will tell you to soak your brains for up to three hours in an aciduated water, changing the water several times, and then will have you slowly pluck off the membrane and the various blood clots very carefully, so as not to damage the delicate meat. Craig Claiborne in his NEW YORK TIMES COOK BOOK, even my mother's 3 by 5 recipe card, will tell you to do this sort of thing. It is French. It is cosmetic. It is unnecessary.

A REGIONAL ANNECDOTE

In the 1970's in Bloomfield, Connecticut there was a unique food store called COPACKO. It was a large independent operation that did its own livestock slaughtering. Wednesday, I eventually discovered, was "brain day."

I was only able to get to COPACKO occasionally because the convoluted highways of the time made it a long trip from Rockville/Vernon. But I found myself there one Wednesday, the only white guy in a meandering line leading to the special meats counter where you could get some very interesting things—fresh pig's liver, fillet of goat, and hog snouts among others. Finally my turn came. I stepped up to the counter and ordered two pounds of calves brains (then just 23 cents a pound—the offal price). In front of me a huge black guy, the size of Rosie Greer, who'd just ordered a whole pig's liver, turned to me in astonishment and said, "Man—you gonna EAT that stuff?"

"Oh yes," I said. I paid my 46 cents, left, and drove back east over the river. It was my birthday.


INGREDIENTS

o 2 lobes of a calf's brain (about a pound).
o aciduated water (water with vinegar added), enough to cover the brains.
o 3 strips of lean bacon.
o 3 tbsp. butter.
o ½ a medium onion chopped.
o several cups of chopped greens (spinach with arugula and romaine lettuce is a good mix).
o flour for dredging.
o paprika.
o 4 tablespoons (or more) of capers.
o 1/3 cup good red wine.

WHAT TO DO

o Bring brains to a boil in the aciduated water, lower stove heat to simmer and continue for 20 minutes. This will firm them nicely. Let them cool for ten or fifteen minutes.
o In a non-stick frying pan, fry bacon to crisp texture. Remove and drain.
o Add butter to frying pan and braise greens and onion until soft.
o Slice cooled brains into ½ inch pieces.
o Dredge brains in mixture of flour and paprika.
o Add brains to vegetables in frying pan at medium heat and braise until golden brown.
o Add more butter if necessary, add capers and a little red wine, and the crumbled bacon.

Serve with rice.

A pound of brains will serve 4 people nicely. Leftovers? Slice them and combine with scrambly eggs for breakfast, as they do in the South or in the great breadbasket. Yum, baby.


Boreegard