Sheep’s Head Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the head
Soak the sheep's head in water overnight to clean it.
Singe the head with a red-hot iron and remove the skin if desired.
Split the head and remove the brain.
Cook the soup
In a large pot, combine the head, water, pearl barley, and vegetables.
Boil for 4 to 4.5 hours until the head is tender.
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
- Sheep's head
- Provides the meat, fat and gelatin that give the broth its body and richness.
- Pearl barley
- Thickens the broth as its starch releases during long simmering and adds chewy texture.
- Vegetables
- Add aroma, sweetness and flavor to the broth as they soften during the long cook.
The step that matters
Boil until the head is tender. Sheep's head contains dense connective tissue that needs a long, steady simmer to break down into gelatin. Stopping early leaves the meat tough and the broth thin.
“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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.