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Pigs Head.—~—Hure De Cochon a LA Maniere De Troyes

A braised pig's head stuffed with a seasoned farce of pork, bacon, eggs, lard, truffles, pistachios, and spices, served after long cooking.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pistachio match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 100 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Pigs Head.—~—Hure De Cochon a LA Maniere De Troyes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the farce

  1. Drain the pork and bacon.

  2. Finely hash the pork and bacon with salt and spices. Pound the mixture.

  3. Add eggs one at a time, testing by poaching a small amount.

Assemble the head

  1. Spread the head on a clean cloth.

  2. Remove seasonings from the head.

  3. Layer seasoned lard.

  4. Arrange the head and mix in the farce to a thickness of 1 inch.

  5. Add the tongue.

  6. Layer more lard.

  7. Intersperse truffles and pistachios.

  8. Sew the head together in its natural form.

  9. Wrap the head in a clean cloth.

  10. Tie with pack thread.

Braise and serve

  1. Prepare a braise with red burgundy and stock, ensuring the head is covered.

  2. Boil the head.

  3. Cover with buttered paper.

  4. Cook for 5 to 6 hours.

  5. Check doneness by inserting a lard; it should enter easily.

  6. Remove from heat and let cool in the cloth.

  7. Wipe off excess fat.

  8. Remove the pack thread.

  9. Trim the neck.

  10. Serve on a napkin.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Parsley + pistachiotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together100 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  2. Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,214 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Pork + truffletop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-ethylphenol (must).

  5. Onion + pistachiotop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together202 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pork
Forms the main body of the farce, giving the filling its structure and meaty texture.
Bacon
Adds fat and moisture to the farce, keeping the mixture tender as it cooks.
Eggs
Bind the farce so it holds together when sliced.
Seasoned lard
Adds richness and fat between the layers, keeping the meat moist.
Red burgundy
Flavours the braising liquid with acidity and aroma as the head cooks.
Truffles
Contribute a strong earthy aroma to the filling.

The step that matters

Checking doneness by inserting a lard. The head is cooked for hours and must be tender throughout. Probing with lard shows whether the connective tissue has softened; if it resists, the head needs more time in the braise.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, egg, parsley, truffle, pistachio):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, egg, parsley, truffle, pistachio. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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