先別嘔吐 看倫敦大廚怎麼吃腦花

It’s strange with offal,” says Fergus Henderson. “People say, ‘Liver, oh yes, liver’, which is the biggest filter in the body. Then they say, ‘I love sweetbreads’, which are glands, but, ‘Tripe, oh no! Brains, oh no!’”

“動物內臟很奇怪，”弗格斯•亨德森(Fergus Henderson)說，“人們說，‘肝，好吧，肝’，肝是人體裏最大的過濾器。然後他們說，‘我愛吃胰臟’，胰臟是腺體，但是，‘肚子，咦，不要！腦花，算了吧！’”

Unlike the St John chef, many of us are inconsistent offal eaters. We happily scoff chicken liver pâté but, for most, brains are a step too far. It’s the melting, mousse-like texture that gives pause. For chefs, however, it is precisely the combination of voluptuous texture, subtle taste and unfamiliarity that makes brains such a desirable ingredient. And, in London’s restaurants at least, they are becoming increasingly popular.

與這位St John餐廳的大廚不一樣，我們大多數人對各種內臟態度不一。我們快樂地大嚼雞肝醬，但對大多數人來說，腦花就有點過頭了。讓我們猶豫不決的是那種入口即化的、如慕斯一般的口感。然而，對大廚來說，正是這種曼妙的口感、無以名狀的滋味和新奇感結合在一起，才讓腦花成爲了一種理想的食材。而且，至少在倫敦的餐廳中，這種食材正變得越來越流行。

This isn’t news to chef Henry Harris, who had calves’ brains permanently on the menu at his (recently closed) Knightsbridge brasserie Racine. Harris prepares them fried, with a sauce of brown butter and capers. This classic combination is, according to the late food writer Richard Olney, the “purest way to appreciate brains”.

對大廚亨利•哈里斯(Henry Harris)來說，這不是什麼新鮮事。在他位於倫敦騎士橋(Knightsbridge)法式小酒館Racine（最近已關閉）裏，小牛腦是菜單上雷打不動的菜品。哈里斯的烹飪方法是油煎，佐以褐色黃油和醃刺山柑花蕾的醬汁。新近的美食作家理查德•奧爾尼(Richard Olney)稱這種經典搭配是“品味腦花最純粹的方式”。

Brains must first be soaked and then the fine membrane carefully peeled off. Far from finding this a chore, Harris takes pleasure in the fiddly process. “From a cook’s point of view, they are lovely things to prepare. They have to be utterly fresh as they degrade very quickly, there is no muscle, they are 80 per cent fat of a very fragile nature. I’ve done them enough times so that I can do a whole calf’s brain in about two minutes.”

腦花必須先浸泡，然後小心地把上面的薄膜剝下來。哈里斯完全不覺得這是個麻煩事，對於這項精細的工作，他相當樂在其中。“從一個廚師的角度來說，這種烹飪食材非常可愛。它們必須絕對新鮮，因爲很快就會變質。腦髓裏沒有肌肉，80%都是由一種非常易碎的脂肪組成。我操作的次數足夠多，因此我處理一整個小牛腦大約只需要2分鐘。”

Karam Sethi, chef at Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant Gymkhana, agrees. Sethi serves goat’s brains (bheja) blanched, chopped and fried in a masala as a supplement to a dish of spiced goat’s mince (methi keema). It has been a top-selling choice since the Raj-inspired restaurant opened in 2013. “Brains are widely eaten across India,” Sethi says. “I knew our Indian customers would order them, they’ve grown up eating them . . . Brits too have a love of offal. They were intrigued to try [the dish]; 99 per cent of people like the taste.”

倫敦梅菲爾區(Mayfair)的米其林星級餐廳Gymkhana的大廚卡拉姆•塞蒂(Karam Sethi)也持相同意見。塞蒂爲食客準備了山羊腦(bheja)，先水焯、然後切碎，與馬薩拉(masala)調料一起煎炒，作爲加香料調味的山羊肉碎(methi keema)的伴菜。自這家印度風味餐廳2013年開業以來，這道菜已經成爲店裏最暢銷的菜品。“腦花在印度是一種常見食物，”塞蒂說，“我知道我們的印度顧客會點這道菜，他們是吃着這個長大的……英國人中也有很多愛吃內臟的人。他們好奇地嘗試（這道菜）；99%的人喜歡這種味道。”

For Sethi, brains are a good introduction to offal. “I think brains are not that challenging, they are not as offally or strong as some other ingredients. You can also deep fry them, they are so versatile.”

對塞蒂來說，腦花很適合第一次吃內臟的人。“我認爲腦花不是那麼有挑戰性，它們不像其它一些食材那樣有內臟的感覺，味道也沒那麼重。你還可以用油炸，做法多種多樣。”

Soft and creamy, brains contrast well with a crisp golden exterior and a sharp sauce to cut through the richness. Henderson loves blanched, cold brains on toast with a green sauce of herb, capers and vinegar, a dish that offers a threefold pleasure: “the give of the brains, then the crunch of the toast, and the bite of the sauce”.

腦花柔滑細膩的口感與金黃酥脆的外皮形成了鮮明的對比，用味道強烈的醬汁來穿透厚重的感覺。亨德森喜歡把水焯過的涼腦花放在烤麪包片上，配上一種綠色的香草汁、醃刺山柑花蕾和醋，給人以三種層次的愉悅感：“腦花的彈性、然後是烤麪包片的酥脆，以及醬汁的強烈風味。”

Jeremy Lee, chef at Soho restaurant Quo Vadis, thinks brains “marvellous as a stuffing for veal” but loves them as fritters to be “dunked in a great big bowl of sauce gribiche or ravigote”.

倫敦蘇活區(Soho)餐廳Quo Vadis的大廚傑里米•李(Jeremy Lee)認爲，腦花“用作小牛肉的填料極爲合適”，但他喜歡把腦花剁碎後油炸，然後“用一大碗法式芥末香料蛋黃醬(gribiche)或者法式酸辣調味醬(ravigote)沾着吃。”

Over in Shoreditch, east London, at the recently opened Lyle’s, chef James Lowe sources English rose veal brains from Cornwall. “I think it’s good to give people something they wouldn’t normally order. It’s about how creamy they are, as opposed to liver, which is firm and sweet. If you want them to hold their integrity, then blanch them first. They unravel like a fire hose.”

在倫敦東部肖爾迪奇地區(Shoreditch)最近新開業的餐廳Lyle’s，大廚詹姆斯•洛(James Lowe)選用產自康沃爾(Cornwall)的英國玫瑰小肉牛的牛腦。“我覺得，給人們提供一些他們平時不會點的東西是一件好事。牛腦的賣點是柔滑細膩，與肝臟緊實濃香的感覺不同。如果你想要牛腦保持完整性，先下水焯。它們會像消防水帶一樣舒展開來。”

Lowe takes the classic French approach and makes it his own using wild ingredients. He has served brains fried in butter with the salt and sour of pickled and salted elderberry “capers” (unripe elderberries) and ripe elderberries cooked with sugar and cider vinegar. “When you cook elderberries, they make a ton of vinegar, it’s dark and fruity. I make it in the autumn and use it in game sauces.”

洛採用了經典的法式做法，並用風味濃烈的配料做出了自己的特色風味。他用黃油煎牛腦、加鹽、用鹽和醋醃製的未成熟接骨木果，以及用糖和蘋果醋烹製的成熟接骨木果。“烹製接骨木果時，會出大量的酸汁，色澤深黑，果香濃郁。我每年秋天製作，用在野味汁(game sauce)裏。”

Probably the most glamorous place to eat a plate of brains is at the sparkling chrome-and-marble counter of Sam and Eddie Hart’s tapas restaurant Barrafina, Adelaide Street, which opened in Covent Garden last summer. Here Basque-born chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho serves milk-fed lambs’ brains “just like my mum used to”, coated in coarse Panko breadcrumbs, deep-fried, sitting on a spicy tomato sauce and topped with a glossy black olive picada, a sprinkling of pine nuts and sprigs of basil.

想要品嚐一盤腦花，最迷人的地方很可能是薩姆和埃迪哈特夫婦(Sam and Eddie Hart)的西班牙小吃店Barrafina裏鉻和大理石制的閃耀着光澤的櫃檯。這家店位於阿德萊德大街(Adelaide Street)，去年夏天在考文特花園(Covent Garden)開業。店裏的大廚涅韋斯•巴拉甘•莫哈舒(Nieves Barragán Mohacho)出生在巴斯克(Basque)，她“就像我媽媽曾經做的那樣”烹製羔羊腦，把羔羊腦裹上一層面包屑後油炸，下面鋪上一層辣味番茄汁，上面撒上帶着光澤的碎黑橄欖醬，少許松仁和幾枝羅勒葉。

It’s a rather extraordinary plateful, offering spice, heat, crunch and the aromatic olive and basil flavour as the precursor to the delicate, pearlescent brains. It’s already a big hit with customers. For Barragán Mohacho, offal is something she grew up with and there’s plenty of it on the menu here (kidneys cooked in a Josper grill and a Frit Mallorcan speciality of that island that consists of liver, kidneys and sweetbreads). She counsels that the fat must not be too hot or the breadcrumbs will burn before the brains are cooked.

這是一盤相當令人驚豔的菜，熱辣的味道、酥脆的口感、橄欖的香氣和羅勒的風味作爲前味，然後是細膩柔滑、閃着珠光的腦花。這道菜已經是顧客中的大熱門。對莫哈舒來說，內臟是她從小吃到大的食物，也時常在當地餐館的菜單上出現（用烤網烹製的腰子，還有馬略卡島(Mallorcan)特色菜Frit Mallorquí，用肝、腰和胰臟烹製而成）。她建議油溫不要太高，否則腦花還沒熟透麪包屑就焦了。

If you feel like preparing brains at home, you’ll probably need to give your butcher a day or two’s notice. London butcher Danny Lidgate warns that lambs’ brains are harder to get hold of (the ones served at Barrafina are from Spain). “Lambs’ brains are harder to extract. They have a different texture, smaller and daintier. Pork brains would have a stronger flavour. A lot of people given the option would choose veal.” For Lidgate, it’s the simplest approach that works best and brains on toast is a good weekday supper. “I would blanch them and fry them in butter and olive oil and season them.”

如果你想在家做腦花，你可能需要提前一兩天告訴肉販。倫敦肉販丹尼•利德蓋特(Danny Lidgate)的忠告是，羊腦更難買到（Barrafina的羊腦是從西班牙運來的）。“羔羊腦更難取出。它們的質地不同、更小也更易碎。豬腦的味道比較濃重。所有很多人會選擇小牛腦。”對利德蓋特來說，最簡單的方法最好，把腦花放在烤麪包片上，非常適合作爲工作日的晚餐。“我會用水焯，然後用黃油和橄欖油煎，之後進行調味。”

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All the chefs agree that deep-frying makes brains less scary to diners. But for the home cook, it’s harder to get right and brains are not something you want to undercook. Harris warns against pan-frying unblanched brains as “undercooked brain is revolting”. Which makes blanching, cooling and then slicing a more fail-proof method. The blanching firms the brains up, making them easier to handle. It also means you can indulge in one of Richard Olney’s “private kitchen pleasures”, the sight of brains floating in a pot with carrot, onions and herbs.

所有的大廚都同意，油炸會讓腦花變得不那麼可怕，更容易被食客接受。但如果是家庭烹製，油炸的火候更難掌握，而半生的腦花肯定不是你想看到的。哈里斯的忠告是不要用平底煎鍋來煎沒有用水焯過的腦花，因爲“沒有熟透的腦花令人作嘔”。因此水焯、冷卻後切片的方法更加萬無一失。水焯會讓腦花變得緊實，因此更容易處理。這也意味着，你可以沉浸在理查德•奧爾尼所說的其中一種“廚房私密之樂”裏——看着腦花、胡蘿蔔、洋蔥和香草一起漂浮在鍋裏。

Come summer, I think one of the nicest ways to eat brains is Olney’s cervelles de veau froides à la crème, a dish of chilled brains covered in a dressing of double cream whisked together with lemon juice and mustard, and garnished with chives and chopped celery. It might sound rich but is a good match for sultry weather. Cookery writer Simon Hopkinson showed me how to make this dish, in what turned out to be a masterclass in the gentle touch needed to peel off the membranes and then prepare and cook the brains. Cream and green chives made for a pretty plateful. They were, as Olney promised, “wonderfully creamy” with “a firm yet melting” texture. In short: a rare and cerebral pleasure.

今年夏天，我認爲品嚐腦花最美妙的方式之一是奧爾尼的奶油凍小牛腦，做法是在冰的熟腦花外面淋上一層由濃奶油、檸檬汁和芥末混合而成的醬汁，再裝飾以四季蔥和剁碎的芹菜。這聽起來可能比較膩，但其實非常適合在悶熱的天氣裏品嚐。烹飪作家西蒙•霍普金森(Simon Hopkinson)向我展示了怎麼做這道菜，剝除外面的薄膜然後處理烹製的過程需要非常細緻的手法，這讓整個展示過程變成了一次大師課程。奶油和青翠的四季蔥使這道菜餚非常美味。就像奧爾尼許諾的那樣，“極其柔滑”而且“緊實但又入口即化”的口感。簡而言之：一道世間少有、讓人食指大動的美味佳餚。