To Collar Pig’s Head
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Scour the head and ears thoroughly.
Remove the hair and snout, and take out the eyes and brains.
Soak the head in water overnight, then drain.
Cure
Salt the head generously with coarse sea salt and saltpetre, and let it sit for five days.
Cook and shape
Boil the head until the bones can be removed.
Lay the head on a flat surface, aligning the thick end with the thin end to form an even roll.
Sprinkle with salt and white pepper, then roll it up with the ears.
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
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and preserves the meat during the long cure.
- Saltpetre
- Helps the meat keep its pink colour and inhibits spoilage bacteria during curing.
- White pepper
- Adds a mild, sharp aroma to the seasoned surface.
The step that matters
Salt the head generously and let it cure for five days. Salt must penetrate the thick meat evenly. Too little salt or too short a cure leaves parts unpreserved and prone to spoilage, while the cure's moisture loss and salt uptake are what make the meat safe to keep.
“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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