Head Cheese
Souse and head cheese are prepared in much the same way. For head cheese omit the vinegar and season highly with savory herbs. Before moulding in jars put it in a cheesecloth and press out the fat. Pack it in moulds of a convenient size and shape for slicing, and put it in a cool place. These old-time dishes frequently find favor with those who remember how they tasted "at grandmother's."
This entry is a variation note rather than a standalone method: it assumes you have already made the souse in the preceding recipe — pig's head, feet and hocks simmered for hours until the meat falls from the bone, then chopped and set in its own gelatinous broth. What follows applies once that stage is done.
- Read it alongside souseNo quantities, simmering time or cooking temperature appear here because they belong to the souse entry. Head cheese is that same preparation with the vinegar left out and the herbs increased.
- "Season highly"Cold jellied meat tastes bland; the seasoning must be judged in the warm mixture and pushed further than seems right. Period savory herbs for this dish mean sage, thyme, marjoram, savory itself, plus plenty of black pepper, and often a little clove, mace or nutmeg.
- Pressing out the fatGather the warm meat in a doubled square of cheesecloth and twist, or set it in a colander with a weighted plate. Fat left in the mixture separates into a greasy white layer as the loaf chills and makes slices crumble apart.
- MouldsA loaf pan lined with plastic wrap or a 1-quart terrine works; press the mixture in firmly with no air pockets and weight the top with a second pan and a couple of cans until fully set. The gelatin in the broth does the binding, so no extra setting agent is needed if the trotters went into the pot.
- "A cool place" means the refrigeratorA larder or cellar at 50-60F is not cold enough for a moist, low-acid, hand-handled cooked meat. Chill it promptly at 40F or below, keep it there, and treat it as you would any deli meat: a few days at most, or slice and freeze.
- YieldThe recipe gives no quantities; a pig's head with feet will yield several pounds of finished loaf, enough for one or two moulds of a size convenient for slicing. Serve cold in thin slices with mustard, pickles or a splash of vinegar at the table.
Head cheese contains no cheese; the word describes the form, a pressed loaf turned out of a mould and sliced, rather than anything from the dairy. The name is usually taken as following Dutch hoofdkaas and comparable German pressed-head preparations, though the derivation is not settled — German Presskopf carries no 'cheese' element at all. It belongs to the economy of the home-butchered pig, where the head, feet and hocks were too gristly to roast but rich in the collagen that sets a broth solid on cooling, so nothing was wasted. Souse is the same preparation soured with vinegar for keeping, and the pair commonly appear together in nineteenth-century American cookbooks. By the time this collection was compiled they were already being framed as heirlooms — the appeal to how things tasted "at grandmother's" marks a dish drifting out of the home kitchen and toward the butcher's counter, where many people now meet it.