Important: Safety Warning
This recipe calls for animal brains or related nervous-system tissue. Cattle brain and spinal tissue can transmit bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the cause of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, which is fatal and has no treatment.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
Home › The Principles of Cookery › Calf's Head, Baked
Calf's Head, Baked
Take half a calf's head. Prepare it as if for boiling, removing the brains and tongue. Let it simmer gently for half an hour, then take it out of the water, drain it, and fold it in a cloth to dry. Prepare a breakfast-cupful of finely-grated bread-crumbs, mix with them two salt-spoonfuls of salt, half a salt-spoonful of cayenne pepper, two dessert-spoonfuls of finely-shredded sage, and the same of parsley. Brush the head over with beaten egg, and strew the breadcrumbs, etc., over it; let it get dry, then repeat, the second time pouring hot butter over instead of brushing with egg. Fill the hollows of the eyes with crumbs. Bake the head in a good oven, basting it frequently with a cupful of sauce mixed with a dessert-spoonful of vinegar. The tongue and brains must be boiled separately, and cut into pieces, and a little time before the head is sufficiently baked, must be strewed with the crumbs and put into the oven to brown. Serve on a hot dish, with a little gravy round the meat, and oyster sauce in a tureen. Time to bake, two hours. Sufficient, half a head for four persons.