Recently, you talked with someone who was eating pork brains and scrambled eggs whose chef had never eaten them. You seemed in wonderment that such a dish should be on the menu.

Just wanted to share with you that both our sons, born in 1970 and 1972 respectively, ate pork brains and scrambled eggs every day when they were infants. This brains diet was recommended by Adelle Davis. Marj, my wife, had the idea of mixing them with egg. Thanks for being the occasion of a delightful memory recalled.

We get your radio broadcast on WFYI FM90 : Indianapolis. Appreciate your work very much.

Shalom,

--Dick

I just heard the segment on weird foods and the pork brains and eggs caught my attention. Three years ago, I was working on a dig in Gilmer, Texas, a small town up in the far northeast corner of the state. One night, a friend and I were perusing the shelves of the local supermarket and we noticed some things that, to us as Oregonians, seemed a little strange. The strangest were some small, dust-covered cans of pork brains in milk gravy. So, I bought some and still have it. On the label is a recipe for "SCRAMBLED EGGS AND BRAINS":

Drain brains; combine with 3 beaten eggs and salt and pepper to taste. In fry pan, cook in melted butter or margarine on medium heat, stirring to prevent sticking.

I should point out that this 5.5 oz. can has 3500 mg of cholesterol, or 1170% of the US RDA.

Bon Appetit!

--Jason

I listened to you program on strange foods and heard about the "brains and eggs" and the fellow who had heard of them but had never eaten them in 52 years. Well, I have been eating them for most of my 50 years. It is somewhat of a southern food, much like chitterlings. As you taster said, they are mild, but to me have a distinctive and not unpleasant taste. Everyone should try them. You can get them in the canned meat section or frozen meat section of the grocery store.

--Susan

For someone billed as a savvy traveler, you display a surprising ignorance. Brains and scrambled eggs have been a staple of the farm and ranch diet far longer than the 52-year-old Bill there in Salt Lake City has had them on his menu. You may not find them in too many of today's homogenized roadside eateries or trendy designer-food palaces, but they're a staple in back country kitchens where folks have learned not to be wasteful.

Brains, by the way, are practically tasteless and have a jelly-like consistency. Sort of like bone marrow. I don't know if eating them makes you smarter.

--Bob

While I enjoy your program very much I now wonder how savvy you can be if you don't know that brains are a delicious and decidedly non-weird food! Brains and scrambled eggs are a classic and certainly not invented by the guy in the diner. Since they are light, fluffy and very subtly flavored brains are actually much like eggs anyway.

If you want to be truly savvy and are lucky enough to find a French restaurant that serves brains in black butter with capers try them and enjoy a truly sublime and delicate dish.

--Anne

Contrary to what you were lead to believe, the restaurant in Salt Lake City did not "make up" the dish pork brains & scrambled eggs in 1952. My grandmother & great aunts were eating this "regional favorite" for many years before that. It is a dish that I know many older Americans remember fondly. I equate this dish, in my memories of growing up in southern Illinois, with head cheese, cow's tongue, and pig's knuckles. It probably originated in times when our society was not so affluent and people (especially rural people) utilized every part of the butchered animal that could be used. I doubt if this dish could really be attributed to any certain ethnic group. It's been my experience that people of English, Germany, Czech, Polish, & Hungarian as well as other ethnic backgrounds all have enjoyed cuisine of this type.

By the way, I enjoy listening to your show on WSIU radio.

--Kitty

I heard your show this morning and enjoyed the piece about foods, especially the diner serving pork brains and eggs. You all thought that was a very strange food, but I didn't. I live in Memphis, Tennessee and grew up in the area. I can remember going to my grandparents' house to kill hogs. It was an all day event, with all the men doing the butchering and all the women cleaning and packaging the meat, making the sausage and such. For supper that night we always had my grandmother's biscuits and scrambled eggs and hog brains. Maybe this is a regional thing. I have never seen that dish anywhere else, but the country people of that day (1950s) did not think of the dish as unusual.

I really enjoy your show. I am going skiing in March and may be calling you about air fare deals from Atlanta or Jacksonville, Florida to Denver. Thanks for an enjoyable ride to work.

--Sara Anne