Pressed Head Cheese from Pig's Head

How to make it

1. 1

   The pressed head cheese can be prepared 8 days before Christmas. The brine in which it is laid must be so strong that an egg can float. But this brine too should contain a little sugar: to 4 l. water, 0.5 kg. salt and 100 gr. sugar.

2. 2

   Choose a medium-sized pig's head that is not especially fatty, as most people find that a lean head cheese is best.

3. 3

   The head is split, all blood, brain matter and slime are carefully washed out; then it is laid in water, which is changed until the head is white and the water clear of blood.

4. 4

   Boil in salted water, which must be boiling when the head goes in. After 20-30 minutes the head is taken up and rinsed with cold water.

5. 5

   The rind with a little of the fat is cut off, after which the head is boiled until the bone loosens. It is taken up, rinsed with cold water, the bone is cut out, the eyes and cartilage likewise, and the meat and fat are cut into longish strips.

6. 6

   A cloth dipped in boiling water is laid in a dish, the rind is laid on it, sprinkled with pepper, ginger and allspice, then fat and meat in layers with the spices until everything is used up. Since there is far too little meat in a pig's head, one should have boiled veal to mix in; it gives a leaner head cheese and holds it together better.

7. 7

   When this is done, the cloth is tied together around the head cheese, which is boiled in the stock from the head for about 1 hour. It is taken up and laid with the cloth under a press, where it lies for a full day.

8. 8

   When it is taken out of the cloth, it should first be moistened a little with lukewarm water, otherwise the cloth may have stuck so firmly to the rind that some of it comes away with the cloth.