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Pig's-head Cheese

A preserved meat made from boiled pig's head, seasoned, and set in its own fat.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Pig's-head Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the head

  1. Thoroughly clean the pig's head and split it in two. Remove the eyes and brain.

  2. Clean the ears and pour scalding water over the head and ears, then scrape them well.

Cook and press

  1. Place the head in a kettle and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, skimming off any scum.

  2. Boil until the flesh separates from the bones. Remove the head with a skimmer and place it in a large bowl.

  3. Remove all bones and chop the meat finely. Season with salt, pepper, and pounded sage if desired.

  4. Spread a cloth over a colander, place the meat inside, and fold the cloth over it. Apply a weight to press the meat evenly.

  5. Once cold, remove the weight and take the meat out of the colander. Place it in a crock.

  6. If desired, add 1 pint of vinegar for a gallon crock.

Finish

  1. Clarify the fat from the cloth, colander, and pot liquor for frying.

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 + sagetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,388 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Sage + vinegartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together618 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Pig's head
Provides the meat and gelatin-rich connective tissue that binds the chilled head cheese together.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and helps keep the chopped meat fresh in the crock.

The step that matters

Boil until the flesh separates from the bones. Boiling must be long enough for collagen to break down into gelatin, which sets the pressed meat when cold. Stopping too early leaves the meat tough and unable to hold together.

Swap the sage

The recipe marks sage as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, vinegar):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Dillfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Sagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, vinegar. 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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