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Potted Head

A gelatinous dish made from boiled bullock head and cow heel, seasoned with pepper and sea salt.

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

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Clean the bullock's head and cow heel.

  2. Soak them in warm water for three hours.

  3. Boil until tender.

  4. Cut into small pieces and set aside.

Make the jelly

  1. Strain the boiling liquid.

  2. Let the liquid cool to skim off the fat.

  3. Put the liquid in a saucepan and boil for half an hour.

  4. Season with pepper and coarse sea salt to taste.

  5. Pour into a mold or dish and place in a cool area.

  6. Once cold, it will form a jelly and is ready to use.

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

Bullock's head
Provides the meat and natural gelatin that set the dish.
Cow heel
Adds extra gelatin so the cooled liquid firms into a jelly.

The step that matters

Skimming the fat after cooling. Fat from the boiled liquid stays liquid while warm and rises to the surface as it cools. Removing it before the final boil keeps the set jelly clean-tasting and prevents a greasy layer from forming on top.

“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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