Mock Brawn
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meats
Boil the pig's feet and cow-heel until very tender, then remove the bones.
Boil the sheep's tongues, peel, and slice them.
Lay the belly piece of pork on a clean surface, then arrange the pig's feet and tongues on top.
Roll and cook
Roll everything up tightly and tie it in a cloth.
Boil for 2 hours, then remove and tighten the cloth.
Hang it up for 12 hours.
Brine and store
Make a brine by boiling 1 pound of salt, 2 gallons of water, bay leaves, and sweetbriar for 30 minutes.
When the brine is cold, submerge the brawn in it and store for use.
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 feet
- Break down into gelatin, which sets the head cheese as it cools.
- Cow-heel
- Adds gelatin, giving the set mass a firm, sliceable body.
- Sheep's tongues
- Supply the meat pieces that are set into the gelatinous mass.
- Belly piece of pork
- Provides fat and meat that moisten the roll and add savoury flavour.
The step that matters
Tightly rolling and tying the cloth. A firm, even roll keeps the meats in close contact so the gelatin binds them into a sliceable set; a loose roll leaves gaps and a crumbly texture.
“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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