What heads do you eat?

[ipsedixit]

Non-veggie edition.

Pig, cow, fish, shrimp and soft-shell crabs come immediately to mind.

Any others?

[mrbigshotno.1]

I've had pit bbq steer heads at Mexican weddings on many occasions. Love headcheese and souse. Really love fried softshell crab sandwiches but it's been 25 years since I've had one.

[Zalbar]

yes, name it I've probably eaten it. pig, goat, sheep, cow, etc...

no chicken heads, but that's cuz' I've never had one served to me. Ate plenty of tiny birds whole.

OM NOM NOM NOM

[Puffin3]

To clarify. We don't actually "eat" pig's head etc. We eat the things residing on/in the head right?

[ipsedixit]

No, the whole head. Head cheese.

[Puffin3]

To "eat" the "whole head" you would have had to have had the skull pulverized right? When I eat head cheese I am not eating the "whole head". I am eating what was on the skull.....not the skull.

[ipsedixit]

True enough. But the same would hold true for certain fish heads

[JungMann]

You should try sisig. It's everything scraped off the head of a roast suckling pig (including the ears), chopped with chilies and onions and served on a sizzling platter. My family just made some this Christmas with the leftovers from their lechon.

[ttoommyy]

ipsedixit said: "cuz we let brains count and then we have to include things like cheek, eyeballs, nose, etc."

and then said: "No, the whole head. Head cheese."

You seem to be contradicting yourself. Aren't things like cheeks and snout included in headcheese?

[ipsedixit]

Yes, but you eat those collectively, not as discrete items.

When you eat shrimp head, you're eating eyeballs, brains, whatever facial feature shellfish have, etc., but you're not eating just shrimp eyeballs as you would, say, monkfish cheeks for beef tongue.

[ttoommyy]

So to be able to reply to your question "What heads do you eat?" one has had to have eaten everything on the head?

From Wikipedia on headcheese:
"Which parts of the head are used can vary, but the brain, eyes, and ears are usually removed. The tongue, and sometimes even the feet and heart, may be included."

I tend to think the headcheese I've had has not included eyeballs, so does that mean I cannot truly say I have eaten pig's head?

[wattacetti]

There are also sheep, goats and rabbits. Duck, goose, chicken when you can get them. Have done deer once.

Lobsters are just giant shrimp so I guess they're already included.

[Kholvaitar]

Smelt

[Puffin3]

Absolutely!

[ahuva]

i've done sheep -

[GourmetWednesday]

Had a squab head a few weeks ago at Next Restaurant's "The Hunt". Come to think of it, at their Kyoto menu, I ate a shrimp head. I passed on the whole, fried aji skeleton, and just tasted a bite of the backbone. I think their staff is just toying with me now.

[foodieX2]

Pig, certain variation of shrimp, soft shell crabs. Do brains count? if so I have more….

[ipsedixit]

I think we'll leave brains out for now, cuz we let brains count and then we have to include things like cheek, eyeballs, nose, etc.

[foodieX2]

:)

[iluvcookies]

I eat the heads of Peeps, does that count?

(grin)

[ipsedixit]

Well, they certainly are *not* veggies ...