Ox-head Brawn
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the head
Skin and clean the ox head, or purchase one already skinned.
Split the head in two, remove the eyes, break the jaw bones, and remove the brains.
Soak the head in cold water for 1-2 hours.
Cook
Place the head in a stew pan, cover with water, and boil slowly.
Add vegetables and flavorings as for soup.
Once the meat is tender, strain it from the broth and vegetables.
Shape and set
Remove all bones and cut the meat into small pieces while hot.
Season the meat with salt and spiced pepper or the herb mixture.
Press the seasoned meat tightly into a round brawn tin and let it cool.
Once set, turn it out and slice for breakfast or lunch.
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
- Ox head
- Provides the collagen-rich meat and connective tissue that gelatinize into the brawn's firm set.
- Vegetables
- Add aromatic flavor to the cooking broth, which is later absorbed into the meat.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the meat and draws out flavor throughout the pieces.
- Spiced pepper
- Adds aromatic seasoning that gives the brawn its characteristic savory flavor.
- Cured tongue
- Adds extra meat and a cured, savory flavor to the mixture.
- Bacon
- Contributes fat and smoky, savory flavor to the meat.
The step that matters
Pressing the meat into the tin while hot. Meat must be packed tightly while still hot, because the gelatin from the broth sets as it cools. Loose packing leaves gaps and a crumbly, weak set when turned out.
“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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