Pig brains, anyone?
Have you the guts to eat brains?
Eating pig brains may seem barbaric but they could be your ticket to eternal youth. They are said to improve brain power too
IF THE thought of eating pig brains makes you recoil in horror, here is news that could make it a lot more palatable.
The Russians have developed a formula extracted from pig brains that is said to delay ageing.
If the news leaves you scrambling to get your hands on some swine grey matter, you are not alone.
Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who learnt about the elixir during a recent trip to Russia, was so thrilled that he has instructed the Ministry of Science and Technology to concoct a Thai version of it.
The ministry revealed last week that he believes the successful production of it could boost tourism in the country.
If pig brains really help defy ageing, some Singaporeans are already enroute to eternal youth, because there is no lack of fans here.
Despite its slithery coils, distinct taste and - let us face it - similarity to what is inside our own skulls, pig brains are relished for their creamy texture and fabled ability to improve memory and brain power.
Marketing executive Eunice Ng, 26, has been drinking pig brain soup since she was 10.
'My father even made me eat the brain to make me more intelligent so I'd pass my exams,' she says.
Student Andy Ding, 20, cooks pig brain soup himself the old fashioned way - over slow charcoal fire for up to three hours - so that its brain-boosting qualities will not be lost.
But Ms Fong Mei Lin, chief dietitian of the National University Hospital, says there is insufficient medical or scientific evidence to prove the nutritional value of pig brains.
They are, she asserts, very high in cholesterol.
Eating an entire brain would be way above the recommended daily intake of less than 200 mg of cholesterol.
Still, butcher Lim Choon See has no problems selling his daily supply of 10 pig brains at his stall at Ghim Moh wet market.
Found commonly in wet markets here, pig brains are pink in colour and about the size of a lemon. Each is sold at 50 cents, mostly to people who cook it in soups, says Mr Lim, 45.
Mr K. F. Seetoh, 39, host of TV show Makansutra, describes its taste as a 'beautiful' cross between butter and beancurd.
Pig brains are rarely found in restaurants here.
None of the 20 Chinese restaurants in the Tung Lok Group serves it because, says marketing communications manager Carolyn Tan, 'we serve food that would appeal to the majority'.
Pig brains are offered more at hawker stalls and foodcourts.
Ms Ong Bee Yong, 38, who runs Day & Night Herbal Soup stall at Maxwell Road Food Centre, serves pig brain soup cooked with nine herbs at $5 a bowl.
She says she sells up to 10 bowls of pig brain soup a day, mostly to elderly people.
Over at Yew Gee Roast Duck Rice Stall at Block 73, Toa Payoh Lorong 4, pig brain soup is cooked with chicken feet, garlic and red dates at $2 a bowl.
Owner Sai Tow Long, 56, sells about 15 bowls of pig brain soup a day.
But orders shoot up by 10 more during examination periods, placed invariably by parents eager to boost their children's studying prowess.
Demand for pig brains may go up even higher now that it is linked to anti-ageing.
Advertising executive Carmen Wee, 29, has never tasted pig brains. But that will change if it can really defy age.
'Anything to stay young,' she says.
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Different ways to eat it
YOU have probably heard this gruesome tale before: Chinese and Indonesian tourists eating live monkey brains with the poor creatures strapped beneath tables, their heads popping out through holes to be devoured.
Indeed, Hongkong tabloid Apple Daily reported in 1998 that people in Pingxiang, China's Guangxi province, eat brains from unconscious monkeys which had been forced to drink alcohol.
But Asians do not hold the monopoly on eating the brains of animals. The rest of the world, it seems, has long been munching on them.
Scrambled squirrel brains are a delicacy to natives of Kentucky in the United States. Calf brains are also commonly served in restaurants in France and Italy.
AMERICAN
Scrambled squirrel brains with eggs are often enjoyed as breakfast in the state of Kentucky.
Cooked squirrel brain is about the size of a ping-pong ball and is said to taste like liver, only more mushy.
But Kentucky doctors have recently warned that people who eat squirrel brains may contract Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a fatal illness which destroys the human brain.
FRENCH
The brains of calves and lambs are preferred over others for their delicate flavour. Commonly served in restaurants, they are often pan-fried in butter.
Chef Emmanuel Stroobant of Saint Pierre restaurant at Central Mall says restaurants in France even make a souffle of calf brains, flavoured with truffles.
Chef Francois Mermilliod of Duo Restaurant And Bar says lamb brains are often braised with cream sauce, blanched and grilled, or coated with breadcrumbs and deep-fried.
GERMAN
Begenwurst, a type of sausage, is a speciality of Lower Saxony. It is made with pig brains, flavoured with herbs and spices, and served either boiled or fried.
Mrs Christel Ludwig, director of German Market Place supermarket in Bukit Timah Road, says calf brains are also cooked in homes in the countryside.
INDIAN
The brains of sheep and goats are sometimes cooked in soups and curries, says cookbook author Devagi Sanmugam.
An Indian-Muslim coffee shop stall at the junction of Norris Road and Serangoon Road offers fried goat brains with eggs at $2.50 a serving.
ITALIAN
Calf brains are given to newborn babies for their nutritional value, says Mr Bonaventura Mansi, executive chef of the Fullerton Hotel. They are floured and pan-fried, with lemon juice squeezed on top.
MALAY
Mr B. J. Kadir, host of Suria Channel's Yok Makan Yok cooking show, grew up eating goat brains tucked discreetly in Malay popiah or mixed in otak paste.
In Malay food, goat brains are preferred over sheep brains because they are creamier, and 'taste like ground almond or cashew nut', he says.
SPANISH
Pig brains are often cooked at home, either boiled in vinegar, or sauteed with garlic, olive oil, butter, white wine and parsley, says chef Oskar Urcelay Lazarobaster of Sol restaurant at Goodwood Park Hotel.
A Majorcan style of cooking calf brains is braising it with vinegar and chicken stock, then baked in an egg cream.
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