To Collar Pigs Head
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the head
Scour the head and ears thoroughly.
Remove the hair and snout, and take out the eyes and brain.
Soak the head in water overnight, then drain.
Salt the head generously with coarse sea salt and saltpetre, and let it sit for five days.
Shape and cook
Boil the head until the bones can be removed.
Shape the head into a roll, turning the thick end towards the thin end for even size.
Sprinkle the roll with salt and white pepper, and roll it with the ears.
Optionally, add boned pig's feet or thin parts of cow-heels around the outside.
Wrap in a cloth, bind with tape, and boil until tender.
Place a weight on top and leave covered until cold.
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
- Pig's head
- Forms the main body of the roll, supplying meat, skin and gelatinous texture when cooked.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat during the curing period.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the meat and keeps it a pink colour during curing.
The step that matters
Salting the head for five days. Salt and saltpetre must penetrate evenly through the thick meat. Uneven or insufficient salting lets spoilage start in thick areas and can leave the roll poorly preserved and unevenly coloured.
“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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