Heart tacos. Kidney fried rice. Bone marrow ice cream. Not items that you would see on your traditional restaurant menu. But for those seeking something new to eat, Dr. Jonathan Reisman is bringing his Anatomy Eats dinner series to Oxford, Mississippi in October.
The doctor and foodie launched his Anatomy Eats series in Philadelphia, and has used the events as a platform to showcase how various animal organs function and are used in cuisine. In essence, it’s both a fine dining experience, and a lesson in anatomy and physiology.
“We always had liver when I was a kid and I hated it,” says Reisman. “But then in medical school, I started learning more about organs, how complicated and amazing they are, and how they function to keep us healthy. And the biology and complexity of these organs is similar between humans and animals. It got me thinking about all these kind of unorthodox parts of the animal that are used for cooking.”
At a barbecue, Reisman’s wife introduced him to chef Ari Miller (who runs Musi BYOB in Philadelphia), and the two got to talking about their medicinal and culinary backgrounds. They both had an interest in exploring underutilized parts of the animal, and eventually partnered to host several Anatomy Eats dinners together.
“Each dinner was based on a bodily system,” says Reisman. “For example, we did a cardiovascular-themed dinner, where we served hearts cooked in three different ways, and some bone marrow dishes. We’ve also done dinners focused around the digestive system, or the musculoskeletal system.”
After several successful dinners in Pennsylvania, Reisman is looking to connect with new chefs around the country to put their unique spin on future anatomy dinners. Next up on October 2nd and 3rd are dinners hosted alongside Halima Salazar and Dria Price of Gimbia’s Kitchen. As part of the event, Reisman will dissect a cow heart and discuss the other physiological aspects of the animals used as part of the courses.
“For the culinary side, Halima is Nigerian and Dria is from Mississippi,” says Reisman. “So, they’ll be exploring an overlap of West African and Southern cuisine, and how culinary styles of each background complement each other. The menu includes two kinds of tacos, with cow heart strips in either a peanut marinade or balsamic vinegar. There’s hog’s head cheese as part of a charcuterie board, and we’ve got a traditional Nigerian recipe called pepper soup, which will have intestines and liver in a spicy broth with calabash, nutmeg, and lemongrass.”
Other courses include beef kidney fried rice combined with sweet creamy honey beans, and Gbegiri and pounded yam: pureed black-eyed peas and beef tongue stew with crispy pounded yam balls.
So far, Reisman says that his Anatomy Eats dinners have garnered plenty of interest. For others, he recognizes that his dinner menus might seem unappealing. But he argues that diners don’t need an adventurous palate to enjoy one of the Anatomy Eats courses.
“I think liver is the most recognizable thing that we serve,” he says, “and it probably has the strongest taste of any internal organ. So, I think it’s a misconception that you need to be brave to try many of these things; heart, kidney, and bone marrow should all have tastes which are pleasing to people who eat more traditional meat dishes. So, you can still use the whole animal, be sustainable, and enjoy the whole experience.”
Looking forward, Reisman hopes to connect with many more chefs around the country who can share their unique culinary experiences. After all, says Reisman, there are so many different ways to sustainably cook animals that aren’t common in most of the United States.
“I’ve traveled a lot, both recreationally and for work,” says Reisman. “I toured through India volunteering at hospitals, lived in Russia at one point, and did some work as a doctor on ships in the arctic and near Alaska. Every place I’ve had the opportunity to see new approaches to food.”
Reisman was most impressed by traditional native Alaskan techniques.
“They take meat-based cuisine to an incredible extreme,” he says. While working in Alaska, he tried plenty of seal heart and seal blubber. “The blubber they render down into an oil, which is kind of used as an all-purpose dip, flavoring, seasoning.”
And another interesting dish? Whale meat.
“We had plenty of whale meat and blubber, much of it raw. There’s a traditional dish called Mikigaq that I had a lot, which is whale meat fermented in whale blood. There are just so many interesting ways to approach and create food, and Anatomy Eats hopefully will show people different ways to do that.”
Anatomy of Fine Dining with Dr. Jonathan Reisman will take place at Snackbar in Oxford, MS, on October 2nd and 3rd at 6:00 p.m. Click here for tickets and more information.