Polish Head Cheese
Printed From: The BaitShop
Category: The Library
Forum Name: Recipes, Cooking, Game Processing and Food in General
Forum Description: From the lake, the field, the garden or the campfire! Family and ethnic recipes also encouraged!
URL: http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=18969
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 22:37
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Polish Head Cheese
Posted By: rivet
Subject: Polish Head Cheese
Date Posted: 07 January 2010 at 06:48
|
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 http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-thyme.htm - thyme , http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-allspice.htm - allspice , and http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-bay-leaves.htm - bay leaves and served with pickled http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-beets.htm - beets and http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-mustard.htm - 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'  -------------  FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
|
Replies:
Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 07 January 2010 at 11:54
|
Brought to a rolling boil, then reduced to medium for a gentle boil for
about 4 1/2 hours. Time is secondary, the liquid and meat have to have
the right look and consistency. Since Mrs Rivet does not like head-cheese, I realized I was making it all for myself...woo-hoo! I can add the things I like~ like hot peppers. So I did, a combo of Thai and Serrano's a member of another forum (bbq) sent me-  Once the boiling was over and the meat falling off the bones, and all the little bones falling apart, we drained them from the precious liquid. Then I added the flakes-  The meat and bones now need to picked over, saving the meat and discarding the fat, bones and gristle. This is the time consuming part, but certainly worth it at the end....  Once you got the meat separated into a bowl, mix it in gently with the liquid. This gets ladled into the pans that will mold the finished product. You can use individual bowls or one big one.  I made sure to equally distribute the meat among the molds and also added the chopped flat parsley and stirred that in. Then, into the refrigerator overnight-  Tomorrow, the fat will have risen to the top will get scraped off and thrown away. The lean, tasty head-cheese molding will get inverted and served with white vinegar for an Old-World traditional treat. I'll finish up with pics tomorrow..... ------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
|
Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 07 January 2010 at 11:57
|
looking very good so far! ------------- TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana  Helfen, Wehren, Heilen Die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen |
Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 08 January 2010 at 06:31
|
Woke up this morning to subzero weather but no worries~ we got head-cheese! Pulled them out of the fridge, and as planned there was a thin- quarter inch at most- layer of fat on top that we scrape off and throw away. The layer of fat helps preserve the loaf, so don't scrape it off until you're ready to eat it.  Set the loaf pan in an inch of hot water for a moment to release the loaf from the pan, then flipped it over-  Beautiful! Since there's chunks of meat, I used a sharp knife to cut through into slices-  Tried a slice with the traditional spoonful of white vinegar over it~fantastic! The peppers and parsley really made it look pretty, but added an amazing depth of flavor.  The good part about this is that it is extremely lean meat and gelatin due to the cooking-process. That's good to know since I ate 3 slices right off the bat! You can see how the meat tends to sink to the bottom. Next time I'll reduce the liquid a bit more after taking the meat out so we'll have just enough gelatin to bind the good meaty stuff. This was my first try at making head-cheese and I think I did pretty good. Thanks for looking! ------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
|
Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 08 January 2010 at 12:10
|
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? ------------- TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana Helfen, Wehren, Heilen Die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen |
Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 08 January 2010 at 12:22
I would think that smoked pork would add a beautiful flavor to it! Just
chop it up and add it at the very end when you are putting the stuff
into the mold. I'm sure it would taste great! Very nice idea, Ron!
------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
|
Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 08 January 2010 at 16:18
|
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
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. ------------- TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana Helfen, Wehren, Heilen Die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen |
Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 08 January 2010 at 18:11
Man, you got that down just right. No worries, Mama Vicky is gonna make a Polack out of you yet!  Couple pointers for tips only...you have the process down! - I'd reduce the water to one inch above the meat at the beginning. The 5 inch rule that Mom gave holds for her "big pots" of cheese which start with 6 or 8 trotters and according loads of meat.... - Be careful when scoring the hocks. The bone is close to the rind on one end and it is easy to slice one's palm if not being careful. - After straining the meat out, I'd reduce the liquid a bit. Angelia and I agreed that "just enough liquid (gelatin) to bind the meat" would be the best and most professional way to do this. - If you are going to add grated carrots or anything, 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. Otherwise you have it down pat, Ron and look forward to yours! I'm thinkin' this would go great with Kosher Dill pickles and a hunk of sharp swiss..what do you think? I forgot to put marjoram in mine...oops. ------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
|
Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 09 January 2010 at 03:17
|
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 ~ ------------- TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana Helfen, Wehren, Heilen Die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen |
Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 09 January 2010 at 04:37
changes made - if anyone wants to copy/print the recipe, it should be complete now! ------------- TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana Helfen, Wehren, Heilen Die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen |
Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 10 January 2010 at 05:54
|
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!  ------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
|
Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 10 January 2010 at 06:06
|
looks great, john - i like your chunks of meat and wish mine had a few more bigger chunks. the other loaves might but the first one has only small pieces. i was worried that there wouldn't be enough meat, but i was wrong about that worry, as there is plenty. i love the look of those mustards with that brerad - true eastern-european eating! ------------- TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana Helfen, Wehren, Heilen Die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen |
Posted By: GOT14U
Date Posted: 18 January 2010 at 02:09
|
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. |
Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 18 January 2010 at 04:16
|
No buddy, queso de cabeza is a worldwide thing! ------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
|
Posted By: JUSTN A. MURKAN
Date Posted: 04 October 2010 at 11:37
|
IS THERE ANYTHING BETTER THAN CENTRAL/EASTERN EUROPEAN PEASANT FOOD,,,NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ------------- If,,in the end all I have is my honor......it will be enough! |