Monkey brains (cuisine)
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Consumption[edit]
In the Gorilla Journal Angela Meder described due to personal communication with Hecketsweiler the Anyang tribe of Cameroon used to practice a tradition in which a new tribal chief would consume the brain of a hunted gorilla while another senior member of the tribe would eat the heart. For other members the killing of a gorilla was forbidden and sentenced. This tradition was reported as vanishing in 1999.[1]
While they have been eaten in the wild, and were served at the Manchu Han Imperial Feast, it is unclear whether monkey brains have ever been served in a restaurant.[2] In 1998, Apple Daily in Hong Kong printed pictures allegedly showing the practice; it is the only newspaper ever to have done so.[3]
It is not only humans who eat the brains of monkeys. Both extant species of chimpanzee are known to eat the brains of monkeys which provide fat in their diet.[4]
Health risks to humans[edit]
Consuming the brain and other nerve tissue of animals may be hazardous to health.[5] Brain consumption can result in contracting fatal transmissible spongiform encephalopathies such as Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other prion diseases in humans.[6]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Meder, Angela. "Gorillas in African Culture and Medicine". Gorilla Journal. Extract from No. 18. June 1999. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
- ^ http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2002/08/08/issues/debunking-strange-asian-myths-part-ii/
- ^ Article October 21, 1998.[dead link]
- ^ Clarke, Bella (2005). "Review of The Madness of Adam and Eve: How Schizophrenia Shaped Humanity". Human Given magazine. Retrieved 2006-11-04.
- ^ Dorfman, Kelly. "Nutritional Summary: Notes Taken From a Recent Autism Society Meeting". Diet and Autism. Retrieved 14 October 2005.
- ^ Collinge, John (2001). "Prion diseases of humans and animals: their causes and molecular basis". Annual Review of Neuroscience 24: 519–50. doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.24.1.519. PMID 11283320.
References[edit]
- Live Monkey Brains on maxent.org - an extensive, critical, annotated examination of the legend.
- Burrell, Paul (1999). "In the Royal Manner: Expert Advice on Etiquette and Entertaining from the Former Butler to Diana, Princess of Wales". Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-52641-X.
- Golden monkeys hope for survival in 'Year of Monkey'
