Name: Persian-Inspired Brain Frittata
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 2 - 6 (if meal v. appetizer)
Cuisine: Persian
Ingredients: 1 veal brain; 5 eggs; a shy 1t of salt; 1/8 t pepper; 1/4 t saffon, dissolved in 1T hot water; 1T olive oil; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1/2 cup celery leaves, chopped (or parsley); 2T butter

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Persian-Style Brain Frittata (Brain Kuku) in a pan coming out of the oven and sizzling with butter

Brains and eggs are a great combination since they have similar textures. This version of Persian-styled Brain Frittata (or Kuku/Kookoo) feels like an improvement on simpler single-dish servings. I simplified a recipe I found by skipping the poaching and mixing raw brains directly into the raw eggs. Of course, every time I make kuku, it reminds me of a celebratory New Year’s dinner several years back. Brain Kuku has all the love and delight of that meal and will have a repeat performance in our home.

Kuku, or Persian Frittata

As Najmieh Batmanglij describes,

Egg and Egg dishes are popular throughout the Middle east. Iranians are especially fond of kookoo, a type of omelet similar to the Italian frittata and the Arab eggah. It is filled with meat, vegetables or herbs. A good kookoo is thick and rather fluffy…

Kookoos are served as appetizers, side dishes or as a main dish with yogurt or salad and bread. They may be eaten hot or cold and tey keep well in the refrigerator for two or three days.

Most Iranian households keep kookoos on hand for snacks or to serve unexpected guests. They are ideal for picnics as well.

If they can last that long. 🙂

A Memorable Kuku

On Nowruz (Persian New Year) in 2010, we went uptown in Chicago – infant in tow – to celebrate with a colleague of my husband and his family. His wife made a complete New Year’s feast! She served spring kuku, fried fish, tadigk (the crusty Persian saffron rice), and more. One delicious course after another, we enjoyed late into the evening.

Alas, there are as many variations of kuku as there are cooks – and hers was complete with walnuts, barberries and various herbs. I had a copy in hand to take home with me. Yet, in the end, we accepted persistent requests to stay the night as snow blanketed the city, my infant son slept, and our husbands began watching a movie in the wee hours in the morning.

I have made her version of kuku every Nowruz since – and always think of her when making any variation. Years have passed, and my husband’s colleague is no longer with us, but often remembered.

Persian-Inspired Brain Frittata (or Brain Kuku)

I am always scouring cookbooks for offal recipes and I’ve had my eye on this for years. This recipe was inspired by Brain Kookoo in the 1986 version of The Food of Life (persian cookbook). We have a later version of this cookbook which omitted this recipe, but I found this early version at my in-law’s house.

I skipped poaching the brains since I knew they would be cooked in the frittata. And since I skipped the poaching, I was able to roughly chop them instead of mixing in a food processor to get them to blend well into my egg mixture. Skipping these two steps saved a lot of time (including washing my food processor) and no one was the wiser – this recipe was delicious.

The saffron is reminiscent of Persian rice and the herbs and garlic gave a bright flavor. This recipe is an easy and flavorful improvement on scrambled eggs and brains (one of the very first recipes on this site). If you can get your hands on brains, definitely try it out – and let me know what you think!