Calfs Head
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean the calf's head thoroughly in salt and water.
Bone the head and cut the meat into eight pieces.
Cook
Simmer the pieces gently in white stock for about 4 hours until tender.
Boil the tongue, skin it, and cut it into slices.
Serve
Arrange the tongue slices around the dish as a garnish.
Serve with brain sauce and boiled bacon or pickled pork.
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
- Calf's head
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender and gelatinous during long, gentle simmering.
- White stock
- Keeps the meat moist and carries flavour while it cooks slowly.
- Tongue
- Adds a richer, more tender meat that is sliced for garnish.
The step that matters
Simmering the head gently until tender. A rolling boil toughens and breaks up meat, while slow, gentle simmering gives collagen time to convert into gelatin, so the meat turns tender and moist.
“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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