Or, admire my skill in typing while dry heaving
Front of can of pork brains with milk gravy, Rose brand
Front of can of pork brains with milk gravy, Rose brand
About a month ago, there was a thread on the IHMMB forums linking to a Consumerist post called “The Worst Food Product Ever May Have Been Found“. I was surprised how many people had never heard of pork brains in milk gravy, as I’ve seen them in many grocery stores, near the Spam and canned corned beef hash. So, of course I went and bought a can. I couldn’t find the Armour brand, but I think off brand pork brains are probably just as good.
You might have noticed that both cans have the brains nestled in scrambled eggs. That’s how they are served here and you can even find them on some restaurant menus. I’ve never seen anyone order it, but I always like it when I see it on the menu. It gives me that “ahhh, I’m not eating at no dang corporate chain, no I’m eating at the restaurant of the people. The eggs n’ brains eating dadgummed heart of America” feeling.
Pork brains ingredients
Ewww nitrites!
Pork brains nutrition information 1
I’m glad they didn’t try to pull that one can equals two servings crap. Do you share your can of Sirloin Burger? I think not.
Pork brains nutrition information 2
The famous 10 days worth of cholesterol in one serving but who knew that pork brains had vitamin C?
Okay, you’re right, I was totally stalling on opening the can.
Open can of pork brains
The smell that came out of the can was like ground up vienna sausages mixed with particularly strong canned dog food. The cheap kind, not the kind that is better than what most people eat. I can still smell it, but maybe that’s because I haven’t taken out the trash yet.
Brains on a plate! Brains on a plate!
I tipped the can out onto a plate and that’s when my stomach really started to clench up and I became woozy and light-headed. I’d thought about scrambling up some eggs and tucking it inside to see if I could make it look like the picture on the front of the can but all the blood was rushing out of my head and I couldn’t imagine making it that far without vomitting or falling down. It felt as if I couldn’t walk and it was all I could do to set up the camera to take a picture. Of course, my tripod was wobbling (it’s one of those bendy legged ones) and I felt a sudden fear that my camera would fall into the pork brains and felt as though I might cry.
Brains bring up some deep seated taboo and it distresses me to even look at them. If pigs have souls, surely they must live in the brain. And surely pigs must have souls, otherwise people wouldn’t make so many movies about them. And to eat, or even touch the house of another living being’s soul or scramble it with eggs, why that’s sacrilege. Let’s hope that there is really no such thing as zombies, for if there are, and one gets me, I’ll be in a doozy of a pickle then.
However, since I’m nothing if not dedicated to my work as a person who blogs about stuff so people will pay attention to her, I did dip my pinkie finger in the milk gravy and have a small taste. It was salty and made me shudder. I thought perhaps I ought to give it a poke but I couldn’t make my fingers do it, so I dumped the whole thing in the garbage disposal and let the water run a good long time.
I am also wondering why the milk gravy. So, I wrote Armour (I couldn’t find Rose’s website):
Hi! I was wondering why your pork brains, and indeed all the brands of pork brains I have ever seen, are packed in milk gravy. Is it for taste or does the milk act as a preservative?
Thanks!
Tracy
I will let you know if I get an answer. Until then, enjoy this video of some fools eating Rose pork brains in milk gravy.
The End! (I refuse to speculate as to what that dark matter on the bottom might be)
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New Diet- only have this in the house!
Jay´s last blog post..The Sunday Ponder
You are so brave!
I was chewing gum while reading this. That didn’t last long.
John Roach´s last blog post..Understanding Narrative Mode
I think I’d rather eat dirt.
You are a brave soul.
Gwyn Teatro´s last blog post..So, We All Agree?… Really?
Just a suggestion here:
Mayhap if you were to spread the offending cranial matter on toast points that have been liberally spread with bacon-aise?
I’m just thinking, pork brains, pork fat. Maybe one would complement the other?
Sorry I’m not typing any more than that, I’m still kinda nauseous.
And besides, I gotta go watch iron chef to see some real food get cooked…
George
Tumblemoose´s last blog post..Writer’s newsletter: A little help, please
Oh mai gawd! Seriously where do you find this stuff? LOL. Just the title was enough to make me dry heave and the pictures are helping matters here. he he.
Gerald Weber´s last blog post..Infinite Twitter Capabilities: What’s More?
Congratulations, Tracy! For the first time in the history of your food-blogging, you have officially put me off my lunch.
I am not easily grossed out by weird food, but the look of that pink stuff was just too much. I think it is the colour more than anything that is off-putting.
The dark stuff on the bottom is definitely soul-rot. That particular set of brains was from a sinister pig, not an innocent, Babe-like one. You had a can of Satan.
susan´s last blog post..The Hate That Jack Built
Oh gosh, that’s terrible. I’ve never really seen this before. Good thing too, because I have a ridiculously weak stomach. (I love Consumerist, btw!)
Brittany´s last blog post..Reviving Your Childhood and Satisfying Your Insatiable Curiosity
You know, someone must like it or they wouldn’t sell it, eh? But who that someone is…. just can’t say. Thanks yet again for making sure I do not eat yet another food product. You are like the king’s taster, that person who had to take a taste of all of the food before it went to the king, to prevent the king from getting poisoned.
Alisa Bowman´s last blog post..My daughter, the spendaholic
I had an uncle who ate pork brains for breakfast. It was his favorite. Needless to say, he died of a coronary due to his food habits.
I also have an uncle who is a squirrel hunter. He cooks up the head with the rest and sucks the brains from the head. No kidding. If I’m lyin’ I’m dyin’.
And cannibals? They get some sort of weird neurological disease from eating the brains of humans.
The very thought of eating brains makes me feel all icky and trembly and barfy. I could hardly stand to look at the pictures.
I wonder what all is in hot dogs? I know that there are snouts, tails, innards — what about brains? Just another reason to buy Kosher hot dogs!
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I say this with love: What is wrong with you? Why would you put that in your mouth? For site hits? If jumping off a cliff garnered you site hits, would you do that too? (A twist on the question my mother plagued me with for years.)
Gak. You could tag these entries with new phrase: the barfening.
I am sickened. Why do I have so much admiration for you, dammit? You are conquering fears, obviously. Of botulism.
That was disgusting. I wonder if fresh brains look any better than the canned kind?
I’m glad I read this after my dinner had digested.
Thank you every one for admiring my bravery. You might be interested to know that I have come down with a horrible stomach virus. It’s probably not related to the pig brains, as my children are also sick, but one never knows, does one?
Also, a tv show mentioned prions (Which are the brain born pathogen thingies) and now my brain itches and it might never stop.
Not to worry. The itching will stop soon. Along with everything else.
I work for a free-range pork butcher, I can get you fresh brains to compare. Just let me know!
I am at a loss for words. That’s rare!
Thats Disgusting.
Pork Brains in Milk Gravy
But still I would like to try that.
From where did you find that.
Wow. I think maybe, just maybe, this tops my Adventures in Tripe.
I’ve always told my kids, “You have to TASTE it before you can declare it ‘oooh, yuck, gross’” but over the years, I’ve admitted that there are a few things that justify saying, “I’m sorry, but I’m just not mentally ready to try that yet.” This would be one of those things.
Never mind the cholesterol (why do you think I have such good hair and nails?) what about Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease? I mean… it’s not COW brains, but I was under the impression those pesky little prions ran around with bendy straws singing, “Brains, brains, beautiful brains…” and didn’t really care much which organism they infested? I don’t do brains. I used to be curious about sheep’s eyeballs (having heard that they pop under the tongue and are considered a great delicacy in some countries) but, well, eyeballs are part of the brain, so they’re out, now.
The haggis, though? If you’re cooking up haggis, let me know – I’ve yet to try it, and whatever genes I got from my my Scottish ancestry are just crying out for some…
Holly Jahangiri´s last blog post..Relay for Life
I would just like to say thank you for your blog! The pork-brain article made my husband and I laugh until we cried!
Wow… or must I say.. eew!!
Yes. You ARE brave!!
Well, my sister and I have a blog about animal rights and that stuff.
I think eating meat is not so nice to the animals we eat , but I eat it myself, even tough, I like to tell people to please be conscious that they’re eating a living being, and that some industries [like KFC] treat the animals horribly before turning them into food.
Anyway, we would like to know if we have your permission to use your photos and some info on our spanish blog, we think it would be a cool article
PS:.Did your kids saw that?
Cuz I think kids would say someting like “Cool!!” hahah
Karoline´s last blog post..El origen de tu abrigo…
How revolting! Absolutely disgusting! I agree with Gwyn and would rather eat dirt. I am so glad I became vegetarian!!!
That’ll do, Pig. That’ll do.
That is so flipping nasty!
Lmao @ amy
Ah ha!
I’ve been aware of Pork Brains in Milk gravy for nearly 20 years now. There was a running practical joke among my mum’s friends whereby a tin would be smuggled into another unsuspecting friend’s luggage when visiting. There were 2-3 tins in circulation and I think they crossed the Atlantic a fair few times ;-D
We think there is still a tin out there
Alice Elizabeth Still´s last blog post..First Word(ish)
This does not look nutritious or delicious, nor for that matter, is it healthy. So why would any fool think to eat it. I am still pondering this thought. Got any recipes of how it is used?
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Menuda asquerosidad,que puto asco
this is where swine flu originated!!!!
Obviously there’s a market for pork brains in milk gravy, because they can it and sell it. It’s also obvious that the readers of this blog are not the market.
I wonder if the people who eat pork brains in milk gravy are not the kind of people readers of this blog would associate with. A touch of snobbery or a tiny xenophobia, perhaps?
Is there anything you eat that someone from another culture (or social class) would find disgusting?
If you’re going to eat animals, it would be less wasteful to eat more than just muscle tissue. How about liver? Kidneys? Tripe?
Finally, you’d eat anything if you were hungry enough.
I wonder, is the presentation the problem? I mean, if you got that mess and chucked it in a blender with a bit of bread and some herbs, shoved the resultant puree into a sausage skin, fried it till it was cooked through and stuck it into a big dollop of creamy mashed potato, I bet people would love it.
Mary´s last blog post..BADD 2009 Roundup
An itnernet friend linkedthis blog to another site in response to ‘canned chicken’.
I can’t believe you TASTED anything from that can!
Eeee gads woman….
However aside from the fact that you are basically a pig juice licker, I do believe that I like your personality!
In fact I think you just squealed with joy at being called a pig juice licker!
Just had to share this recipe I found and my disclaimer is that it is not my recipe:
Favorite Breakfast “Brains N’ Eggs”
Ingredients
2-1/2 Tablespoons bacon grease
4 eggs
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 can (5 ounce) pork brains in gravy (Rose Brand preferred)
Melt bacon grease in an iron skillet on low heat. Add pork brains to heated grease. Stir with a fork. Add salt and pepper and stir. Whisk eggs and milk together. Increase heat and add egg mixture to brains. Scramble to desired consistency. Serve immediately over toast. For a truly southern dish, serve with grits and apple butter.
Serves: 2
Scary!
I agree with rose , i was in tears and fits of laughter from reading your blog.
Cheers
You probably dont need to worry about prion diseases from pig brain too much, as pigs seem to be more resistant to them than other livestock in experimental settings. There were some cases of an unidentified porcine CNS disease in 1979 which have been suggested to be a TSE but the evidence is scant.
However, As a neuroscientist from the UK where ~200 people died of variant CJD following contamination of the food chain with BSE infected beef nervous tissue, I personally wouldnt take the risk or have the inclination to eat that slop.
Incidentally the saturated fat content is due to the huge ammount of fat based insulating material (generically known as myelin) found in the brain (60% fat by dry weight typically)
This is the first time I’ve been to your site – I have a friend on Facebook with a photo of Pork Brains as her avatar, and I thought – I should research that. Is it real? Do people really eat this? It must be a delicacy in, like, India..or something.
After reading your post, I have come to the conclusion that this is by far enough research, and that, ultimately, I do not want to be infected with what one other commenter stated was “soul-rot.” The only pig I would ever really be interested in tasting is Cillian Murphy from Disco Pigs.
That is all.
Thank you.
For those who wonder about fresh brains: I’ve had fresh calves’ brains, in France. (This was long before any of the mad-cow worries.) They were snow white, cooked in browned butter, and had a texture like custard and a very delicate flavor. I’d eat them again.
There’s no such thing as a bad part of an animal, but there sure are bad things to do with some of those parts.
Wow that was intense.
My dad would cook pork brains & eggs for breakfast every once and awhile and it’s just like ground up ham with eggs. So don’t knock something until you try it. If someone was to make this and serve it to you with out telling you, you wouldn’t have a clue.
It is amazing to me that a product like this would make it to the market. But you never know what people are going to enjoy.
Thanks for pulling this one out of the archives.
I found Rose brand’s Pork Brains in Milk gravy in a Food Lion supermarket in Raleigh, NC. I have no use for it, especially as a canned product. I have eaten brains, but never canned and in a milk gravy.
Sliced thin, battered and fried with grilled onions in a sandwich. Yum!
All I can say about seeing those pictures is…I’m soooo glad that I’m vegan.
Wow. I feel sick just looking at the pictures. I sort of pride myself on being willing to try all sorts of new things at least once, but I don’t think I could manage to try that. Not even sticking my finger in the milk gravy. I do want to go to the grocery now though and look for them just to see them in person.
Debra´s last blog ..Groceries, & Stuff.
Jews and Muslims of the world rejoice! This stuff isn’t even allowed for us to eat if we had a moment of weakness (insanity?)…
Is it canned feaｒ? Mmm… I want to see(^^
No selling it in Japan.
But we can get bugs canned in Japan…..It’s fear too!
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I wonder when a large part of the US stopped consuming offal? The same thing is happening in the UK about some organs now. But brains are eaten in many parts of the world, there’s a British dish called brawn that includes brains for example. The prion risk can be overstated-cattle brains are definitely a no-no, but sheep infected with scrapie have been consumed for a long time with no transfer of the disease, the risk from pig brains is minimal. The fat content is another matter! Though remember that cholesterol contentitself is less important than the cholesterol the body makes from the saturated fats.
Just ate a big plate of them, they were darn tasty. I think the cow tongue in my freezer is going to be al little tastier though. I also have a jar of chocolate covered june bugs for desert.
Once upon a time I collected strange canned foods. I had this Too!
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