Head cheese. What is that? We sometimes hear, "He is the head cheese around here." But this is not about that sort of thing, it is the real thing, an edible, delicious dish made from a pig's head, then refrigerated. The broth is full of collagen, vitamins and all the goodness of bone broth, but is gelled with the meat from the skull of the pig. There is not a lot of meat on a pig's head actually, just the cheeks and some muscles in between. Some folks boil the pig's head for a day or two to get the best goodness, but I did not have a pot large enough to boil this head, which was quite big. It is a bit gross though. The eyeballs are there, but sunken, and you can see the teeth and the mouth, the snout and nostrils and ear canals. The whole thing goes into the soup pot, or in this case the oven. Long slow cooking is necessary to break down some of the connective tissues which then creates the natural gelatin from the connective tissues. When the head is boiled, the skin can be eaten too. It is removed and then the fat scraped off and cut into bite sized pieces and put in the broth.
To flavour the head cheese, I use salt and garlic. By adding crushed garlic just before putting the head cheese into the fridge, the garlic has the most flavour because it is raw. In the old days, the hocks and the head were boiled together in a very large pot outside for a couple of days and the whole process of extracting the meat and skin happened after turning out the pieces onto a huge platter.
One can buy a commercial head cheese in the delicatessen department today. It is not really at all similar to making your own though. Commercial processed meat uses gelatin and not the broth of long cooked body parts with a high percentage of connective tissues. It also does not use what most consider waste, but odd bits of meat not really large enough for a cut.
Some people add vinegar to make a pickled version of the head cheese and others add vinegar when it is served as an option These days, a few cultures still make their version of this, the Ukrainians being one. Only the pork hocks and sometimes the feet are used, boiled for a long time, the meat and skin gleaned off and then included in the broth, which does turn to jelly.
I got two pork heads for free. I froze one whole and used the other and there is enough head cheese for at least 3 meals. Plus, this is delicious and highly nutritious, and the dogs will have the skin, ears and skull to chew on and enjoy as well. Would you like to try some?
To flavour the head cheese, I use salt and garlic. By adding crushed garlic just before putting the head cheese into the fridge, the garlic has the most flavour because it is raw. In the old days, the hocks and the head were boiled together in a very large pot outside for a couple of days and the whole process of extracting the meat and skin happened after turning out the pieces onto a huge platter.
One can buy a commercial head cheese in the delicatessen department today. It is not really at all similar to making your own though. Commercial processed meat uses gelatin and not the broth of long cooked body parts with a high percentage of connective tissues. It also does not use what most consider waste, but odd bits of meat not really large enough for a cut.
Some people add vinegar to make a pickled version of the head cheese and others add vinegar when it is served as an option These days, a few cultures still make their version of this, the Ukrainians being one. Only the pork hocks and sometimes the feet are used, boiled for a long time, the meat and skin gleaned off and then included in the broth, which does turn to jelly.
I got two pork heads for free. I froze one whole and used the other and there is enough head cheese for at least 3 meals. Plus, this is delicious and highly nutritious, and the dogs will have the skin, ears and skull to chew on and enjoy as well. Would you like to try some?
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