Sesos Fritos

This recipe is drawn from the 'Coleccion de Recetas para Guisos y Dulces,' a handwritten Spanish-language recipe collection from 1860. Compiled or dedicated to Señora Rita G. de Garcia, it captures both everyday and festive cooking traditions of 19th-century Mexico or Spain. With a focus on resourcefulness, the use of offal like brains demonstrates both culinary thrift and the appreciation for all parts of the animal—common in kitchens well before the rise of industrial food supply. The recipe layers simple, accessible ingredients like bread, onion, and parsley, turning humble fare into a rich, comforting dish. Typical of its time, this dish bridges Spanish and Mexican cuisines, showcasing the adaptability and layered flavors that define home-cooking in both Iberian and colonial contexts.

In its original form, this recipe would have been made with the simplest of kitchen implements: a heavy clay or iron cazuela (shallow casserole) or sarten (frying pan), a wooden spoon or spatula for stirring and scraping, and a knife for chopping onions and parsley. A mortar and pestle would likely be used to grind the toasted bread into breadcrumbs, and all cooking would be done over a live hearth or charcoal brazier, allowing careful regulation of heat. Cooking brains required gentle simmering in a pot, followed by delicate handling to remove membranes—a process best accomplished with practiced, nimble hands and basic kitchen knives.