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Head Cheese Formula and Test

A preserved meat product made from boiled pig heads, beef cheekmeat, and ham skins, seasoned with pepper and coriander.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and coriander match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,949 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Head Cheese Formula and Test

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Combine the boiled and boned pigs' heads, beef cheekmeat, and boiling ham skins in a large pot.

  2. Add the cooking water and skim off any grease.

  3. Mix in the ground black pepper and ground coriander.

Set and store

  1. Pour the mixture into tins and pails, filling them appropriately.

  2. Allow to cool and set before sealing.

  3. Store in a cool place.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pepper + coriandertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,949 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Beef + hamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,729 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  4. Beef + coriandertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,016 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  5. Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pigs' heads
Supply meat and collagen-rich connective tissue that breaks down into body in the finished loaf.
Beef cheekmeat
Adds dense, tender meat that holds its texture once the mixture is chilled.
Boiling ham skins
Provide collagen that releases gelatin during boiling, helping the mixture set firm.
Cooking water
Carries dissolved gelatin and moisture that bind the meats together as the mixture cools.
Ground black pepper
Adds sharp, aromatic heat that seasons the meat throughout the set loaf.

The step that matters

Skim off any grease. Fat left on the surface can stop the liquid from setting cleanly and leaves a greasy film in the finished set jelly, so it should be removed before the mixture is poured.

Swap the coriander

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, ham, gelatin, pepper):

  1. Celeryfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. Corianderthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, ham, gelatin, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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