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Head Cheese (sylte)

Erken's head cheese from 1914: a soaked pig's head is cooked 1 hour with the rind down, the rind is cut off and placed in a cloth, the head cooked 2 hours more, the meat sliced and layered with pepper, salt, allspice, cloves, ginger and optionally grated onion, wrapped in the cloth, cooked ½ hour, pressed overnight and placed in brine (1 l salt to 8 l water) for a week. The tongue is cooked along with it. The stock is used for slaughter soup.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 648 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

A classic head cheese from the slaughter chapter of Stor kokebok. Erken assumes that the pig's head has been soaked beforehand, and that one has rind, a press and brine available. The stock was used further for slaughter soup.

How to make it

  1. 1

    First cooking

    Place the soaked head in boiling, salted water with the rind side down and let it cook 1 hour.

  2. 2

    Cut off the rind

    Take up the head and carefully cut off the rind to about one finger's thickness. Place the rind immediately, rind side down, spread out over a cloth that has been wrung out in hot water and laid in a large, round dish.

  3. 3

    Continue cooking the head

    Return the head to the stock, now with the bone side down, and continue cooking about 2 hours. Cook the tongue along with it (about 1 hour - test whether the skin comes off easily), skin it and cut it into slices.

  4. 4

    Cut up the meat

    Take up the head, cut the meat from the bones and divide it into thin slices.

  5. 5

    Assemble the head cheese

    Layer fatty and lean meat on the rind and sprinkle the spices (and optional grated onion) between the layers. Add the tongue slices and cover with enough cooked pork rind.

  6. 6

    Bind up

    Fold the cloth tightly around the head cheese, sew it shut and tie off both ends.

  7. 7

    Final cooking and pressing

    Cook the head cheese ½ hour in the stock, place it under pressure immediately and let it stand until the next day.

  8. 8

    Place in brine

    Boil a brine of 1 l salt and 8 l water and let it cool. Place the head cheese in the brine with the cloth on. After about a week it is suitably salted for use. Do not let it freeze, as it easily falls apart.

  9. 9

    Use the stock

    The stock the head was cooked in is used for slaughter soup, prepared like pork-back soup.

Changes from the original

Amounts have been set up in modern units (tsp, tbsp, liter) and modern Norwegian spelling in the ingredient and step lists. The original's "1 —" in the ingredient list has been interpreted as 1 teaspoon of each spice. The method has been divided into numbered steps; the method itself is unchanged.

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Frequently asked questions

How long should the pig's head cook?
The head is first cooked 1 hour in boiling, salted water with the rind down. Then it is taken up, the rind cut off, and the head continues cooking about 2 hours with the bone side down. The head cheese itself is finally cooked ½ hour - about 3½ hours of cooking in all.
What spices are used in the head cheese?
1 teaspoon each of: pepper, salt, allspice, cloves and ginger, plus 1 grated onion. The spices are sprinkled between the layers of fatty and lean meat.
How is the head cheese shaped?
The rind is carefully cut off to about one finger's thickness and placed rind side down on a towel wrung out in hot water and laid in a large, round dish. The meat is layered on the rind with spices in between, cooked pork rind is laid over, and the towel is folded tightly around the head cheese, sewn and tied at both ends before cooking.
Where does the recipe come from?
From Henriette Schønberg Erken's Stor kokebok (1914), page 648, under slaughtering and cured meats. Given as about 12 servings, with a long total time since the head cheese must be pressed and cooled.

Equipment for this dish

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