David Witter

In America, eating cow, lamb and other animal brains conjures visions of rural poverty or characters from horror films. Yet whether you call them sweet breads (Greek, French), sesos (Mexican), or any other name, people around the world not only regularly eat meat from the head, neck and brain area, but consider it a gourmet treat.

"Sweet breads were considered a delicacy by the nobles during the French Empire and even go back to the days of Rome," says Eric Palmer, Sous Chef at Aubriot. "But at the same time, they were also eaten by people in the French countryside, where people essentially prepared whatever the butcher had."

Around the city, flesh from the cranium and head area is prepared and served in a variety of unique ways. The traditional French method of "preparing" sweet breads is to first poach the slightly gelatinous meat in a court bouillon; a mixture of wine, peppercorns, bay leaves and shallots. After being cooled in ice water, the meat is pressed into large, deep pans and flattened and firmed for six to eight hours. Then the meat is sliced into small portions and usually poached or pan-fried in brown butter.

Once this is done they can be prepared with a variety of sauces and spices. At Aubriot, brains were served with a sauce made of minced picholine olives, carrot and onion, served on the side so as not to ruin the meat's texture. Even with the careful preparation, the taste is still slightly gamey. Hence, the recommendation that the rich sweet breads be eaten with another side dish. Aubriot paired it with caramelized onion ravioli. Although sweet breads will not appear on the winter menu, they have also been prepared with a foie gras of duck liver, sun-dried tomato and artichoke, or cut into thin slices and served cold as a terrine.

In Chicago's Greektown, the dish is made of lamb and served at most of the popular eateries. Rodity's offers sweet breads as a weeknight special. Deep fried in a thick flour batter, they are then sauteed in a light red sauce made from red wine, tomatoes, parsley, garlic and other Greek spices.

Once served, they come in irregularly shaped pieces that remind one of catfish nuggets. As for texture, they are not meaty like lamb or chewy like calamari. Instead, they are soft; almost like marshmallows. Breaking one of the battered chunks in half, the inside reveals a soft, milky white substance with tiny red lines or veins that resembles the pictures of brain matter we all saw in high-school biology class. The dish is very rich; bites have to be alternated with swallows of bread or potato. Again, your best bet would probably be to split a plate with someone who has ordered a more traditional dish, or to eat the lamb sweet breads as a group appetizer.

Finally, in the Mexican neighborhoods, brains are also a highly prized commodity. In fact, the top of the dinner menu at Nuevo Leon featured this large caption: "For the Gourmet Only -- Sesos Panfritos." In this case, the brains were pan-fried and mixed with eggs; like a brain omelet. The meat was much darker and firmer. As for the taste, it was much stronger; an almost livery taste. Eaten alone, they are almost too strong. But if you once again shelf your cultural bias and eat the meat on a tortilla with rice and beans, you have yet another unique eating experience.

"A lot of people in America might think that it is strange or somehow uncultured to eat foods like sweet breads or other organ meats," Palmer says. "But in France, they think the Americans are downright barbaric for eating massive slabs of bloody meat in the simple form of steaks, so it all depends on where you are coming from."

Aubriot, 1962 North Halsted, (773)281-4211
Rodity's, 222 South Halsted, (312)454-0800
Nuevo Leon, 1634 West 18th, (312)421-1517
(2001-01-11)

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