Polish Head Cheese

My mom was born in Poznan, Poland of Polish-Ukranian extraction. You can imagine the variety of foods she's made us....

During the holidays, a must-have at home was head-cheese, essentially pork in aspic. Back in the Old-World they used the pig's head, hence the name "head cheese" but she never used one that I know of...I'm sure my dad would have flipped!

Apparently it is fairly common. Here's what I found online:

Germany’s presskopf features vinegar or pickles and may also contain beef tongue. Denmark’s sylte is spiced with thyme, allspice, and bay leaves and served with pickled beets and mustard. Head cheese in England is called brawn, and in Scotland, it goes by the name potted heid. In Latin America, you can find it on the menu as queso de cabeza, and in Mexican markets, look for queso de puerco. Head cheese is also available in Hungary, disznósajt; Croatia, tlačenica; and Estonia, sült. The latter variety of head cheese often features the addition of green vegetables and carrots.

Anyway, I've helped her make it often, but here is my first time making it alone.

Here's the goods. This morning went to the butcher and picked up a couple ham hocks, trotters and thick-cut pork chops...



Key trick she always did was to have the butcher cut the feet lengthwise in half-



I scored the hocks' rind down as deep as I could too-



Into the pot they went covered with cold water. Called mom to ask her a couple questions on the details...



Ooops, not enough water covering the meat. She reminded me we need a good 5 inches of water over the meat. Okay, changed pots, and added the whole garlic bulb, a diced onion, about 2 TBSP salt and not shown, about 10 laurel (bay) leaves-



This comes to a rolling boil, then reduced to a gentle boil for the next 3 to 4 hours. The meat and rind should fall off the bones and the gelatin released from the pieces. Smelling real good right now, and I'll post more picts and process as we go!

Thanks for lookin'



Edited by rivet

looking very good so far!

very impressed and plan to try this one. as you know, mrs. tas is not a fan of red hot peppers, so i will probably try carrot shavings and maybe marjoram.

very good effort! might be interesting to smoke the pork before cooking?

Edited by TasunkaWitko

outstanding, john -

i'm putting together a shopping list/recipe for this one. let me know if i miss any ingredients or key steps!

traditional polish head cheese

• 2 ham hocks
• 2 trotters, split down the middle
• 2 thick-cut pork chops
• 1 bulb garlic
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 tbsp salt
• 10 laurel leaves
• any desired flavors such as pepper flakes, herbs etc.

carefully score hocks through the rind as deeply as possible. keep in mind that the bone is close to the rind on one end and it is easy to slice one's palm. put the meat, garlic, onions, salt and laurel leaves in a pot with 1 inch of water covering everything. bring pot to a hard boil, the reduce ehat down to a gentle boil and boil for 3-5 hours. until the meat falls off the bones, the gelatin is released and the little bones fall apart.

strain the liquid from the solids and reserve the liquid. set the liquid back on the heat to reduce down some more. the exact amount you want is hard to put down in a set rule, but you are looking for  "just enough liquid (gelatin) to bind the meat.

if you are going to add any desired flavorings such as grated carrots, pepper flakes etc., add them just after you strain the meat out so they can get a chance to "warm up" in the liquid before you mold them.

pick through the solids and remove all meat, discarding fat, bones gristle etc. chop the meat into bite-sized pieces and return to the liquid, mixing gently.

ladle mixture into loaf pan(s) or bowl(s), distributing meat equally if using multiple containers. add any desired herbs and gently stir mixture in containers. refrigerate overnight to set up. will keep for up to 2 weeks. do not freeze.

when ready to enjoy, scrape the protective layer of fat off the "top," set the loaf pan in an inch of warm water for a few seconds to release from the mold, and turn out onto a serving plate. slice with a sharp knife into individual servings. to serve in the traditional polish way, drizzle a spoonful of white vinegar on top of your slice and enjoy.

Edited by TasunkaWitko

i'll add those tips to the recipe - thanks for posting them ~

for some reason, the marjoram calls to me with this recipe. i agree 100% about the kosher dills and a hunk of cheese. swiss would be a good choice....

....and as it so happens, i'm going to try to smoke some swiss (with cherry) here soon; perhaps even this weekend ~

Yesterday I talked to my mom about my successful first-time making this and she said that to have an authentic Polish/Ukranian meal, one had to eat it with either pumpernickle or dark rye bread, mustard and well chilled vodka.

Well, I'll pass on the vodka but I found some dark rye at the store and always have plenty of mustards here at the "hacienda". I'd finished one loaf yesterday, so I started the second one today. This one looed better, there was more meat in it and a little less liquid, so it turned out more like it should, with meat interspered everywhere, just held together with the gelatin.

From the top down, Koops yellow mustard, Grey Poupon, and BookBinders Hot Habanero.



I enjoyed the entire plate with a bottle of local dark beer- an awesome brunch! All the mustards were tasty with the loaf, and definitely a great combination with the bread. My favorite was the Koops yellow; it had the "brightest" and freshest taste that paired with the loaf and bread the best. Maybe because of the spoonful of vinegar on the head-cheese. My second favorite was the Habanero mustard and it was a close call- might be first place tomorrow- depends....the heat of the mustard definitely complemented the red peppers and gentle-heat they added and it layered a flavor that went hand in hand with the porter I was drinking. The Grey Poupon was the lightest of the three mustards and definitely got stomped on by the porter. Maybe with something lighter- certainly vodka- it would stand out, but during today's brunch it wimped out.

Here's the wreckage!

man you are one brave soul. head cheese was always something I could eat just not my fav..I never got the liking for the head cheese. very neat how it's made tho.

One thing you might not know is mexican's have their own version of head cheese and my wife's family loves it..I just always thought it was a European thing.

IS THERE ANYTHING BETTER THAN CENTRAL/EASTERN EUROPEAN PEASANT FOOD,,,NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!