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Pig's Head, Moulded
Lay the head and feet of a pig, and two calf's feet, all properly cleansed, into a stewpan, with an onion, a bunch of parsley, a sprig of thyme, a bay-leaf, and as much water as will barely cover the whole. Simmer all gently together until the meat is tender, then draw out the bones, and when the meat is nearly cold, cut it into small pieces about the size of a bean, and put with it any remains of dressed poultry, tongue, or meat that may be at hand, first cutting them into pieces like the rest. Strain and skim the liquor, and boil it quickly down to a jelly. Clear it with white of egg, and flavour with plenty of salt and pepper, a little grated nutmeg, and a few drops of tarragon vinegar if liked. Put the minced meat into it, with half a dozen sliced gherkins, and let it remain until quite hot. Pour a small quantity of the clear jelly into a mould, and bend it round, when it begins to stiffen, so that it may adhere to the sides, and the inside of the mould be evenly coated. Ornament the bottom prettily with beetroot, sliced green pickles, pieces of hard-boiled egg, chopped parsley, etc. Lay three or four table-spoonfuls of the thinnest part of the mince gently into the mould, and when set pour in the rest. Let it stand until the next day. If there is any difficulty in turning the jellied meat out of the mould, tie a cloth, which has been wrung out of boiling water, round it for a minute or two, and loosen the edges with a knife. Serve on a neatly-folded napkin. Time to boil the meat, till tender. Probable cost of head, 8d. per pound. Sufficient for a breakfast or a luncheon dish.
This is brawn — head cheese — set in a decorated mould. The recipe assumes you can buy a split pig's head and calf's feet from a butcher, and that you know what a set jelly should feel like; both need a little translating.
- Sourcing the headAsk a butcher for a split pig's head with the brain removed, plus trotters; most will order one in with a few days' notice. Ears and snout are edible and go into the mince, but the eyes should be cut out and discarded before cooking.
- Calf's feet, and what replaces themThe calf's feet are there purely for gelatine. Pig's trotters do the same job and are far easier to buy. If you use neither, the stock will not set firmly enough to unmould, and powdered gelatine bloomed in a little of the hot liquor is the usual modern fix.
- "Simmer until tender" means hoursThe book gives no time because it varies with the animal. Expect three to four hours at a bare tremble; the meat should slip from the bone and the ears should yield to a knife without resistance.
- Reducing the liquorBoil the strained stock down until a teaspoonful chilled on a cold saucer sets to a firm wobble within a few minutes. Underreduced stock is the commonest cause of a mould that collapses on the dish.
- Clearing with egg whiteWhisk a lightly beaten white (and its crushed shell if you like) into the cooled stock, bring it slowly to a bare simmer without stirring, let the raft form, then ladle the liquid through a scalded cloth. This is largely cosmetic - skip it and the brawn is cloudy but tastes much the same.
- Season harder than seems right"Plenty of salt and pepper" is meant literally. Cold jellied meat mutes seasoning considerably; taste the hot liquor and season it to the point where it seems slightly too salty warm.
- Setting and chilling"Let it stand until the next day" assumed a cold larder. Chill it in the refrigerator, and treat the finished brawn as you would any cooked meat: eat within three or four days, keeping it cold throughout.
- Yield and servingA whole head with feet makes a great deal — a 1-litre/1-quart mould at minimum, often more. Turn out and slice thinly; serve with mustard, vinegar or a sharp pickle, as the gherkins in the mince suggest.
Brawn is one of the oldest ways of dealing with the parts of a pig that will not roast, and English households were making it long before Cassell's set it in a fancy mould with beetroot and hard-boiled egg. The technique is straightforward economy: the collagen in a head and feet dissolves into the cooking liquor, and on cooling it sets the meat into a sliceable block that keeps far longer than the fresh cuts would. What marks this version as late Victorian is the decoration — the jelly lining, the patterned base, the folded napkin — which brings a cheap breakfast dish onto the same table as the aspics and chaudfroids of the period's fashionable cookery. The instruction to add "any remains of dressed poultry, tongue, or meat that may be at hand" is the older logic showing through, and the quoted price of eightpence a pound tells you exactly which end of the market the head belonged to.