To Collar Pig’s Head
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Scour the head and ears, removing hair and snout.
Take out the eyes and brain.
Soak the head in water overnight.
Drain the head.
Cure
Salt the head well with coarse sea salt and saltpetre.
Let it sit for five days.
Cook and press
Boil until the bones can be removed.
Roll the head to make it an equal size.
Sprinkle the head with salt and white pepper.
Roll the ears onto the head.
Wrap the head in a cloth.
Bind the cloth with tape.
Boil until tender.
Place a weight on the head.
Leave it 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
- Provides the main meat, and its skin and bones give a gelatinous texture once cooked.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and preserves it during the cure.
- Saltpetre
- Acts as a curing agent that helps preserve the meat and keep its colour.
- White pepper
- Adds a mild, sharp aroma to the seasoned surface of the head.
The step that matters
Salt the head well with coarse sea salt and saltpetre. The salt and curing agent must cover the whole head evenly. Salt draws out moisture and slows spoilage, so missed areas can spoil during the five-day cure.
“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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