![Monkey brains](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Monkey_brains.jpg)
Monkey brains is a supposed dish consisting of, at least partially, the
brain
A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a ve ...
of some species of
monkey or
ape
Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...
.
While animal brains have been consumed in various cuisines (e.g.
eggs and brains
Eggs 'n' brains is a breakfast meal consisting of pork brains (or those of another mammal) and scrambled eggs. It is a dish of Portuguese cuisine known as ''Omolete de Mioleira'' ( en, Brain Omelette). In Austria, the dish is known as ''Hirn mi ...
or
fried brain sandwiches), there is debate about whether monkey brains have actually been consumed. In Western popular culture its consumption is repeatedly portrayed and debated, often in the context of portraying exotic cultures as exceptionally cruel, callous, and/or strange.
[
]
Consumption
Initial confusion over a translated term for the edible mushroom ''Hericium erinaceus
''Hericium erinaceus'' (also called lion's mane mushroom, mountain-priest mushroom, bearded tooth fungus, and bearded hedgehog) is an edible mushroom belonging to the tooth fungus group. Native to North America, Europe, and Asia, it can be i ...
'' may have played a part in the belief that monkey brains were used in Asian cuisine, as this mushroom is called hóu tóu gū in Chinese (simplified: 猴头菇; traditional: 猴頭菇; lit. "monkey head mushroom"). The mushroom itself bears a superficial resemblance to that of the fur of certain primates found in Asia, such as macaques.
Actual monkey brains were historically part of the Manchu Han Imperial banquet of the Qing Empire held during the 17th century, where they may have been eaten directly from the skull. One modern account from travel writer Leila Hadley details a meal in a restaurant in Macao
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a po ...
near Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
where monkey brains were eaten from a freshly killed monkey's skull, though there is skepticism as to how common the practice remains today. Official Chinese policy on the procurement
Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or serv ...
of certain wildlife species in the 21st century makes the serving of monkey brains illegal, with sentences of up to 10 years in prison for violators.
Beyond Asia and into Africa, naturalist Angela Meder has described in ''Gorilla Journal'' a cultural practice of the Anaang people
The Anaang (also spelled Annang) are a sub-ethnic group of the larger Ibibio people, whose land is primarily within 8 of the present 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom State: Abak, Essien Udim, Etim Ekpo, Ika, Ikot Ekpene, Obot Akara, Oruk ...
of southeastern Nigeria
Igboland ( Standard ), also known as Southeastern Nigeria (but extends into South-Southern Nigeria), is the indigenous homeland of the Igbo people.
It is a cultural and common linguistic region in southern Nigeria. Geographically, it is divided ...
and southwestern Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
whereby a new tribal chief
A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom.
Tribe
The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia.
Tribal societies are sometimes categorized a ...
would consume the brain of a hunted gorilla while another senior member of the tribe consumed the heart. According to this account, the practice occurred only in the specific instance of a new chiefdom
A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...
, as the killing of gorillas would otherwise be forbidden. This tradition was reported as deprecated
In several fields, especially computing, deprecation is the discouragement of use of some terminology, feature, design, or practice, typically because it has been superseded or is no longer considered efficient or safe, without completely removing ...
by the beginning of the 21st century.
The writer Albert Podell claims to have eaten live monkey brains in his book ''Around The World in 50 Years''.
Health risks
Consuming the brain and other nervous system tissues of some animals is considered hazardous to human health, possibly resulting in transmissible encephalopathies such as Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), also known as subacute spongiform encephalopathy or neurocognitive disorder due to prion disease, is an invariably fatal degenerative brain disorder. Early symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes ...
.
In fiction
A fictional depiction of the consumption of monkey brains is shown in the 1978 mondo film
Mondo films are a subgenre of exploitation films and documentary films. Many mondo films are made in a way to resemble a pseudo-documentary and usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, or situations. Common traits of mondo films include p ...
'' Faces of Death'', directed by John Alan Schwartz.[ The scene depicts an Eastern-themed restaurant with patrons seated around a table watching a ]belly dance
Belly dance (Egyptian Arabic: رقص بلدي, translated: Dance of the Country/Folk Dance, romanized: Raks/Raas Baladi) is a dance that originates in Egypt. It features movements of the hips and torso. It has evolved to take many different f ...
. A narrator explains that these are tourists who have come to this location to consume "the house specialty." The proprietor signals for a server to bring out a monkey, which is then secured inside a pen
A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...
built into the table. The tourists are given hammers, and they proceed to hit the monkey on the head until it is killed.[ The server then cuts open the skull and removes the monkey's brains onto a plate for the patrons to sample. No monkey was harmed in the making of the scene,][ the hammers being made of foam and the 'monkey's head' a prop filled with gelatin, red food coloring, and cauliflower to simulate brain matter.]
Additional depictions in the decade following the release of ''Faces of Death'' contain scenes which reference the practice of eating monkey brains, including one from the 1984 film '' Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'', the 1981 Japanese crime film '' Sailor Suit and Machine Gun'', as well as dialogue from the 1985 comedy ''Clue
Clue may refer to:
People with the name
* DJ Clue (born 1975), mixtape DJ
* Arthur Clues (1924–1998), Australian rugby league footballer
* Ivan Clues
* Tim Cluess
Arts, entertainment, and media ''Clue'' entertainment franchise
* ''Cluedo ...
''. In addition to their shock value, what these scenes have in common are their representations of Orientalism, which according to one author, Sophia Rose Arjana, work as cinematic tropes used to "conflate bizarre and vulgarized representations of the Far East".
See also
*Monkey meat
Monkey meat is the flesh and other edible parts derived from monkeys, a kind of bushmeat. Human consumption of monkey meat has been historically recorded in numerous parts of the world, including multiple Asian and African nations. Monkey meat co ...
Further reading
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monkey Brains (Cuisine)
Offal
Chinese imperial cuisine
Monkeys
Brain dishes
Stereotypes of South Asian people