Potted Head
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean the bullock's head thoroughly and soak it in warm water with the cow's heel for 2-3 hours.
Cook the meat
Boil the head and heel together until tender.
Cut the head and heel into small pieces.
Strain the boiling liquid and let it cool, then remove the fat.
Combine the fat with the meat pieces in a stewpan and boil for 30 minutes.
Season with coarse sea salt.
Pot and serve
Pour the mixture into molds and let it cool completely.
Turn out the potted head and serve.
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 gelatinous connective tissue that gives the potted dish its body.
- Cow's heel
- Adds collagen that releases gelatin into the liquid, helping the mixture set firm when cooled.
The step that matters
Removing the fat after straining. Fat left in the cooled liquid can keep the potted mixture greasy and loose, and it can stop the meat from setting cleanly. Chilling the liquid lets the fat rise and solidify so it lifts off easily.
“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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