No Cheese Needed: I spent a pleasant warm day yesterday making headcheese. Here is a post from the archives about the same.
Fromage de tete, coppa di testa, brawn, presskopf or souse, we are speaking here, of course, of headcheese, a frighteningly disgusting term for what turns out to be a delicious dish. The old saying that with a pig you eat everything but the “squeal” is true.
All porky goodness.
“If we are going to live on other inhabitants of this world we must not bind ourselves with illogical prejudices, but savor to the fullest the beasts we have killed. Why is it worse, in the end, to see an animal’s head cooked and prepared for our pleasure than a thigh or a tail or a rib?” M.F. K. Fisher
Our new processor asked last year when I delivered four hogs if I wanted the heads. Immediately I knew that headcheese was in my future. But, time and energy interfered. The heads lay bundled up at the bottom of the freezer, forgotten, and eventually pitched at the dump. A year later, last week, another hog delivered and the same question. And, yes, was my answer.
So Saturday morning I hauled out the head, ears and trotters and placed them in the sink. Using Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s recipe for headcheese from the River Cottage Cookbook I gathered up onions from our garden, and clove, coriander, nutmeg, peppercorns, 1/2 cup of red pepper flakes from the larder. Added a big bundle of thyme, rosemary and parsley from the herb garden and got to work. Using my butcher saw I quartered the heads (I no longer do this step) so that it would fit into the pot easily. Adding the head, ears, trotters, onions, seasoning and herbs to a biggish pot of water and brought that to a boil. Once at a boil it smelled a bit like a crab boil.
Next step is to skim of the scum that floats to the top for about 30 minutes then reduce to a simmer for four hours. After four hours the meat and bones are removed. The liquid is reduced by 2/3 to a gelatinous soup. Next I pulled the meat from the head and jaw and finally chopped into a hash, peeled the skin of the tongue and did the same. Then mixed in a good sized clump of fresh parsley (chopped) and juice of a lemon (many use apple vinegar) and put the mixture in the fridge.
When the liquid was reduced it was strained into another pot. The onions and bundle of herbs were tossed. The meat mixture was then pressed into a terrine and the liquid was ladled over the top. Placed back into the fridge until the jelly set.
What a nice way to create a delicious dish from some very inelegant ingredients. I do recommend using the head next time for those of you who raise or buy a side of pork from time to time. Talk about nose to tail eating!
I’d close by recommending three other books, a holy trinity of sorts, dedicated to the concept that nothing gets wasted. They are all by Jennifer McLagan. Bones, Fat, and Odd Bits. Each is beautifully produced and full of wonderful recipes: Ex. a hearty dish of ravioli made of brains and morels.
Now, where did I put my brains?
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Reading this weekend: Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: essays from a farmer philosopher by Frederick L. Kirschenman
So what’s your favorite way to eat head cheese?
And thanks for the mention of Kischenmann’s book. Another great lead. His opening essay (to introduce the book) talks about castrating calves. So the crew here at Gulliver’s Pulse are wondering if you’ll be thinking along those lines when Delores’ sons have their appointment with the knife?
Your timing is perfect, Clem. We pursued our own theological musings today while castrating piglets. It has been a few years since we had to do the deed ourselves. I held while Cindy did the incisions and removals. I can’t say that I had any light on the road to Damascus experience. Although I can say that I think my hearing is just now returning.
Last night we served the headcheese with crackers, cornichons and mustard. An excellent repast served at our monthly gathering of farmers.
Cheers,
So long as there is a notion of using everything, stem to stern… will mountain oysters be on the menu soon?
Alas, the chickens scooped those up before we did.
Ouch, gives me a whole new perspective on our little feathered friends – and a whole new outlook on why the males are named the way they are (and I’m not thinking rooster here 🙁 )
Good to read of someone else’s experience with this delicious but little known dish. I’ve just been in Iceland where I saw it for sale in the supermarket. But what with the name we never managed to persuade our kids to eat it, even when we euphemistically called it ‘fromage de tete’. I seem to remember using white wine in ours when we made it a few years back. We shared it with Patrick Whitefield when he visited our holding…
Yeah, the name means everything. Last night people tried to get me to rename the dish in French. All of which reminded me that one of my favorite dishes to make from the odd bits is “pork jowl and liver pudding”. And old classic Southern dish, whose name is rendered more appetizing when renamed “pate”. I prefer the former than the latter. Screw the pretension.
I’m envious of your trip to Iceland. I’ve always wanted to visit ever since I read Auden’s “Letters from Iceland”. Will we see blog posts on the agricultural life of that isolated land?
Cheers,
Hello! Great blog. Stumbled on it trying to find a headcheese recipe. I am wondering if you brine the head for 24 hrs as HFW calls for in the River Cottage Meat book. And if so is it necessary to refrigerate it? I don’t think I could find that much space in my fridge! Also, what of the brains? I don’t have the equipment to quarter my head and am wondering if I should just incorporate the brains in the headcheese? Thanks and I look forward to reading a lot more of your blog.
Daniel Key
Roanoke, VA
Thanks for the kind comments, Daniel. You are just up the road. I’ve done a lot of hogs heads since that day. And, I’ve never followed that instruction on the brining, not sure what it would add? However, what I have added, is vinegar. I find that the meat mixture really benefits from something acid to balance the fat. I’ve also never bothered to remove the brains. But, you could easily with an axe. I prepare mine outside in a huge pot over a propane burner.
Cheers,