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Pig's-Head Cheese
Having thoroughly cleaned a hog's or pig's head, split it in two, take out the eyes and the brain; clean the ears, throw scalding water over the head and ears, then scrape them well; when very clean, put in a kettle with water to cover it, and set it over a rather quick fire; skim it as any scum rises; when boiled so that the flesh leaves the bones, take it from the water with a skimmer into a large wooden bowl or tray; then take out every particle of bone, chop the meat fine, season to taste with salt and pepper (a little pounded sage may be added), spread a cloth over the colander, put the meat in, fold cloth closely over it, lay a weight on it so that it may press the whole surface equally (if it be lean use a heavy weight, if fat, a lighter one); when cold take off weight, remove from colander, and place in crock. Some add vinegar in proportion of one pint to a gallon crock. Clarify the fat from the cloth, colander, and liquor of the pot, and use for frying.
This is souse, or head cheese: the whole head simmered until the meat falls off, chopped, seasoned, and pressed so the natural gelatin sets it into a sliceable loaf. Nothing is added to make it gel, which is why the press and the cold set are the whole technique.
- The hinge is the press, not the seasoningThe meat must be chopped and packed while still hot, so the gelatin in the cooking liquid clinging to it sets as it cools under weight. Let it cool first and the loaf will crumble when sliced.
- Sourcing the headA split pig's head is a special order from a butcher; ask for it split, with eyes and brain already removed and the ears attached. Half a head will give enough chopped meat for a small loaf, though yields vary a good deal with the head.
- "Rather quick fire"A brisk fire to bring it up, then a steady simmer rather than a hard rolling boil, which will cloud the liquor and toughen the ear cartilage. The recipe's own test is time enough: cook until the flesh leaves the bones, which takes some hours.
- Skim, and keep the liquorSkimming matters for the fat you clarify at the end, and the strained cooking liquid is rich in pork gelatin. Reducing a little and mixing it into the chopped meat can make the set more reliable, though the original relies on pressing alone.
- Colander and clothAny perforated mold works: a colander lined with a double layer of damp cheesecloth, or a loaf pan with holes punched in it set over a tray. The perforations let excess liquid escape under pressure, which is the point of using a colander rather than a solid dish.
- How much weightThe instruction to weight lean meat heavily and fat meat lightly is sound; fat squeezed out too aggressively takes the gelatin with it. Use a plate cut to fit so the pressure falls evenly across the surface, as the recipe insists.
- VinegarA pint of vinegar to a gallon crock is two cups per gallon of capacity, poured over the finished loaf as a keeping liquor and a sharpener. Cider vinegar suits it; add it after the loaf has set, not to the chopped meat.
- Storage, which the original assumesA crock in a cold cellar was the whole preservation plan here. Wrap the set loaf and keep it refrigerated, and treat it as you would any cooked fresh pork: about five days, or freeze it.
- Sage and seasoningSeason the chopped meat more assertively than tastes right hot, since cold gelled meat reads flat. Pounded sage is the period seasoning; black pepper, a little mace or allspice, and a bay leaf in the pot are all in keeping.
Head cheese contains no cheese: the name is generally traced to calques on Dutch and German terms. The dish is thrift made visible, and it appears in Buckeye Cookery (1877) because a Midwestern farm household that killed a hog in late autumn had a head, feet and ears to deal with along with the hams and sides, and no reason to waste any of it. Versions run through most European pork cultures under their own names -- French fromage de t u00eate, German S u00fclze, and the vinegar-soused kind Pennsylvania and Ohio cooks called souse. The closing instruction to clarify the fat off the cloth and the pot for frying is the tell that this is a working kitchen's recipe: the head yields dinner, a cold cut, and cooking grease before it is finished with.