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Calfs Head Dinner

A dish made from a calf's head, feet, tongue, and brains, boiled and served.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Calfs Head Dinner

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Scald and scrape the calf's head and feet.

  2. Remove the tongue and split the head in the middle.

  3. Take out the brains, soak them overnight, and place in a muslin bag.

  4. Soak the head, feet, and harslet in cold salted water for several hours.

Boil and serve

  1. Boil the brains in water for 15 minutes.

  2. Boil the head, feet, and harslet in skimmed water for 2 to 3 hours until tender.

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

What each ingredient does

Calf's head
Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender through long, slow simmering.
Feet
Contribute gelatin, which adds body and a silky texture to the cooked meat.
Brains (in the method)
Soft and rich, they set into a creamy texture when gently boiled in a muslin bag.

The step that matters

Boil the head, feet, and harslet in skimmed water for 2 to 3 hours until tender. Keeping the water at a gentle simmer rather than a hard boil lets collagen break down slowly into gelatin, so the meat becomes tender instead of tough and stringy. Skimming removes foam that would otherwise cloud the broth.

“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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