Author Information
SNAKE BRAINS
The first time
I had Indian food
was a real trip
It happened
out in Berkeley
back in 1987
I was out there
for some Dead shows
at the Greek Theatre
on the UC-Berkeley campus
I happened to run
into some Heads from Virginia
and we decided
to get a room together
and hang out for the shows
they were well supplied
with blotter acid
and I had my fair share
of Owsley’s sacrament
the whole weekend threatened
to turn into
a long psychedelic blur
at one point we were
all tripping
but needed to eat
There was an Indian restaurant
and it seemed like
it would be interesting
to try it out
we all went in
and were given menus
Of course, a menu is useless
if you don’t know
what the food is
I ordered an Indian beer
while I tried to figure
out the menu
We began to joke
about the possibility
of ordering a dish
with snake brains in it
“They should let you know
on the menu
if they do that.”
“Yeah, maybe put
some kind of warning:
Be careful
this dish contains snake brains.”
Of course, we all
thought we were cool
and asked them
to make the food extra spicy
which, of course, they did
and we all suffered for it
I even put on hot sauce
before trying
that turned out to be
an unnecessary step
this food was hot and spicy—
more so than I could handle
we made them leave
the pitcher of water
at our table
just for safe measure
It’s the last time
I can remember
eating at a restaurant
that made its food
too spicy for me
and to my knowledge
I didn’t eat any snake brains
although the green chili sauce
did look a little suspect
I just try not
to think about it
11-12-95
