Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1872-01-17
To Make a Head Cheese.


Select the ceanest and latest and most
perfect pigs head. The butcher splits the
head only once-through the center of the
forehead and snout-taking off the jowls
Direct him to give il cross ut--by the eyes
separating the snout from the forehead
Now ask him to take out the eyes, which he
can do very readily with his sharp knife see
that he takes out both eye-lds-upper and
lower-with the sac, in which is the eye and
the surrounding membranes. He must 90
close to the bone socket, in order not to break
the eye. Now let him take off the ears. in
Guiding the wrnkled portion of the skin sur.
rounding them, and going deep enough to
remove the whole canal Of the ear. Open
the ear, and scoop out the horny portion,
about as large as an egg, containing the wax,
drum, and Dirt. 1t is easily done. The
bones Of the snout may now be removed with
out loss Of flesh. The pieces should then be
put to soak in plenty of lukewarm water
The water should be drained off and renewed
until all the blood is removed. The flesh, es-
pecially the fat part, and also the skin, will
be of very white and delicate appearance.
Hair will remain on some parts Of the head
and on the ears, which the knife will not re-
move. These must be singed off with piece
of lighted paper 1t is well to examine the
feshy part Of the snout and lower jaw, and
with knife scrape off the skin the butcher
cannot remove before the head is split. al
ways find scalded skin here which comes away
with a mere touch of the knife. After this
is done, wash again and then salt. Take a
quart Of salt and tablespoonful Of finely
pulverized saltpetre, mix them thoroughly
together, aud rub the pieces of pork with the
mixture, adding sugar or molasses if you
wish. l add neither nor do put any wa
ter to the salt, nor over the meat but | am
careful that some of the salt shall touch ev-
cry part of the meat. | pack the pieces
closely in crock, and let them stand for ten
days or two weeks. 1t is well to turn them
occasionally, letting the top pieces 60 to the
bottom into the brine that has been formed.
In two weeks, or perhaps less time, take
the pieces for the cheese from the crock, wash
the brine from them, and boil them gently
until very tender If the bones do not slip
from the meat without the aid of a knife OF
force, it is not tender enough. When boiled
sufficiently remove from the kettle, and take
out all the bone Now cut it up fine with a
knife and fork-some use a chopping knife
and bowl, but | do not like that way. Sea-
son with black pepper-the meat is probably
quite salt enough. Many add pulverzed
sage This is also Objectionable to me and
my family, so do not put any in. use
only pepper. A little mace might be good
as it improves almost everything when sparing-
ly used When the meat is chopped or cut
up fine, it must be put into bowls to be
pressed into shape | think the practice Of
putting head-cheese into milk pans is wrong
1t is very inconvenient shape from which to
cut the slices properly A two-quart bowl is
the shape use for my family. When two
or more bowlfuls are made, only one is re-
moved as wanted, as the cheese keeps better
1t will keep for some time if not loosened
from the sides of the bowl, while a head
cheese exposed to the air soon deteriorates in
flavor. A weight is necessary to press the
meat in the bowl An inverted plate and a
fat-iron will do, The jowls or cheeks are
seldom used in the cheese, as they are too fat
| salt mine with the rest of the head and at
the time of making the cheese, remove them
from the brine, wipe them dry, wrap them in
paper, and hang them up to dry and cure.
They will be nice with roast or boiled chick
en-, or veal, next summer. Cut head-cheese
in very thin slices the thinner the better
and eat with mustard and vinegar Cor.
Am. Agricuituria.