Fried brain sandwich

Fried-brain sandwich

Brain sandwiches, onion rings and German fries
Type	Sandwich
Place of origin	United States
Main ingredients	Sliced bread, calves' brains

A fried-brain sandwich is a sandwich that is generally served as sliced calves' brains on sliced bread.

Thinly sliced fried slabs on white toast became ubiquitous on menus in St. Louis, Missouri, after the rise of the city's stockyards in the late 1880s, although demand there has so dwindled that only a handful of restaurants still offer them. However, they remain popular in the Ohio River valley, where they are served heavily battered on hamburger buns. In Evansville, Indiana, they are still offered at several "mom and pop" eateries, specifically the Hilltop Inn, and remain a favorite dish, featured at the city's annual West Side Nut Club Fall Festival. Kissner's, a traditional workman's taproom in Defiance, Ohio, has offered what their menu now calls their "infamous" brain sandwich since 1928; for years, one instructor at Defiance College would famously hold the last meeting of each class at Kissner's where they would drink beer and he would offer to buy a brain sandwich for any student who would care to try one.

Brains from cows over 30 months old at slaughter are no longer permitted in human food in the United States (Hefling, 2004). Some restaurants have taken to serving pigs' brains instead of cows' brains due to BSE concerns. But as pigs' brains are substantially smaller than cows' brains, the amount of preparation required for each sandwich increases. Each brain must be cleaned before being sliced and pigs' brains produce fewer slices.

See also

• Barbacoa de cabeza
• Beef brain
• Cabeza
• Eggs and brains
• List of delicacies
• List of sandwiches

References

• Brown, Alton. Feasting on Asphalt episode 2, "I Smell Pork." Originally aired August 5, 2006. [1]
• Hefling, Kimberly. "Craving brain food, mad cow or no: Indiana diners chow down on a disappearing delicacy". Associated Press, January 15, 2004.
• CNN Cow brain sandwiches still on the menu. Associated Press, January 16, 2004.
• Kissner's menu