Head cheese
Head cheese or brawn is a meat jelly or terrine made of meat. Somewhat similar to a jellied meatloaf, it is made with flesh from the head of a calf or pig, typically set in aspic. It is usually eaten cold, at room temperature, or in a sandwich. Despite its name, the dish is not a cheese and contains no dairy products. The parts of the head used vary, and may include the tongue but do not commonly include the brain, eyes or ears. Trimmings from more commonly eaten cuts of pork and veal are often used, and sometimes the feet and heart, with gelatin added as a binder.
Variations of head cheese exist throughout Europe and elsewhere, with differences in preparation and ingredients. A version pickled with vinegar is known as souse. Historically, meat jellies were made of the head of an animal, less its organs, which would be simmered to produce a naturally gelatinous stock that would congeal as the dish cooled. Meat jellies made this way were commonly a peasant food and have been made since the Middle Ages. Earlier brawns heavily featured spices and herbs, but beginning in the eighteenth century, the amount of seasoning was reduced. Contemporary brawn now features minimal spicing, usually sage, and perhaps a little lemon juice. Head cheese recipes may also require additional gelatin, or more often need to be reduced to set properly.
Etymology
The English term head cheese is a calque derived from the Dutch word hoofdkaas, which literally translates to. The term hoofdkaas can be divided into hoofd originating from the animal heads commonly used to prepare the dish, and kaas describing the texture, which resembles that of cheese.Terminology
The term head cheese is used in North America, potted heid in Scotland, and brawn elsewhere in Britain and Australia. The name brawn, coming from German and Old French, has had a variety of meanings, from roasted meat to specific types of food. At one point, in English, it referred to the meat of the wild boar, then abundant in Great Britain, from which this jellied dish was made. The term souse, a corruption of the German Sülze, is used for the pickled variety in North America and the West Indies.By country
Europe
- Austria: Head cheese is known as Presswurst, Sulz or Schwartamaga in the most western regions. Depending on the region, it is often served with a light dressing.
- Bulgaria: The meal пача is prepared from pig's heads, legs, and often tongue. The broth is heavily seasoned with garlic before cooling.
- Croatia: This cut is generally known as hladetina, and is commonly produced after the traditional slaughter of pigs. A strongly seasoned version of this cut is called tlačenica. The name švargl is used for a variant where the chopped parts are stuffed inside the pig's stomach, similar to a Scottish haggis.
- Cyprus: made with pork and known as zalatina, a word possibly derived from the English word gelatin. It is often seasoned with lemon juice.
- Czech Republic: The huspenina or sulc is made from pig's heads or legs boiled together, chopped, mixed in their broth, poured into a pan, and left in the cold to solidify. Other ingredients may include onion, pepper, allspice, bayleaf, vinegar, salt, carrot, parsley, root celery, and sometimes eggs. A similar product, tlačenka, is basically huspenina with some more meat, chopped liver, and various offal, poured into a prepared pig stomach and left to solidify under the weight. Tlačenka is generally thicker than huspenina, and commonly is eaten with chopped onions and sprinkled with vinegar.
- Denmark, Norway and Sweden: Sylte, sylta or aladåb, was originally made from the head of pig, but now commonly is made from the forequarters or shanks of pork or veal and seasoned with allspice, bay leaves, and thyme; this forms part of the traditional Christmas smörgåsbord, served on rugbrød or lefse with strong mustard and pickled beetroots. A rolled version made in an otherwise similar way also exists; however, this contains very little aspic.
- Estonia: Sült is similar to the German or Croatian dish, but usually is less seasoned and is made from higher quality meat. Sült tends to be a rather loose form of head cheese with higher aspic to meat ratio and the aspic soft enough that the dish would usually start to slightly fall apart/melt if left at room temperature. Sometimes carrots or greens are added. It is a traditional Christmas dish, but is sold in stores year round. The traditional sült is made from pork using its gelatinous parts. Beef, poultry, and fish variants are also available. Sült might be served with diluted vinegar to be poured over. Horseradish or strong mustard are also common accompaniments.
- Finland: Head cheese is known as syltty, tytinä or aladobi.
- France and Belgium: In French, it is referred to as fromage de tête, tête pressée, tête fromagée or pâté de tête.
Image:SaurerPresssack.jpg|thumb|Saurer Presssack
- Germany: Head cheese is known as Sülze, Schwartenmagen, or Presskopf. In Bavaria, Presssack comes in three varieties in the form of a large sausage. Sülze can have a tangy flavour by adding pickles or vinegar. It usually takes the form of a rectangular loaf, which is then sliced into portions. There is a white coloured variety and two different red ones, using blood, one made with beef tongue and aspic, the other without. In Franconia, Saurer Presssack is served in a salad with a vinaigrette and vegetables. Early references to Sulcze in documents of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen date from 1410 and 1430.
- Greece: In Greece and among Greeks of the diaspora, it is known as pichti and usually incorporates vinegar.
- Hungary: A variant of head cheese, disznósajt, or disznófősajt, is made of mixed meat slices spices, paprika, and pieces of bacon cooked in spicy stock. The chopped meat is stuffed into the pig's stomach, similar to Scottish haggis, pricked with needles, then pressed down with weights to remove excess fat and make it tight and compact. Often it is smoked like sausages or ham.
- Iceland: Sviðasulta, a form of head cheese, is made from svið, singed sheep's head, sometimes cured in lactic acid.
- Ireland: brawn is considered a rare delicacy and is made from pig's head. It dates from at least the early 19th century CE.
- Italy: In Genoa, a similar cold cut goes by the name of testa in cassetta, literally, but it is possible to find it throughout all of central and northern Italy, where it is called coppa di testa, or simply coppa, soppressata in Tuscany, or – in some northern regions – formaggio di testa. In central Italy, it is common to put orange peel pieces in it, or to serve it in a salad together with oranges and black olives. In the Campania region, the head and foot, called o pere e 'o musso, is boiled, left whole and sliced, served with lupini beans and fresh lemon. A version in aspic from Sicily known as liatina includes the head, feet, skin and ears, flavored with bay leaf, pepper, vinegar and lemon.
- Latvia: Galerts is a similar Latvian food consisting of meat in gelatin, often with vegetables, such as carrots, and celery added to the resulting colloidal suspension. Horseradish or vinegar can be poured over the galerts when serving it.
- Lithuania: Košeliena or šaltiena, is usually made from pig's feet; sometimes part of head is added.
- Luxembourg: Jelli is essentially the same as in the neighbouring Germany and France, made from pork, and commonly eaten on buttered bread. A specialty are varying kinds of pastries filled with jelli that are made with aspic containing Riesling wine, most famously
- Spain: This cold cut is known as cabeza de jabalí,.
- Sweden: Known as sylta, a few variations are available with different meats, spices, and preparation methods, the most popular being kalvsylta, pressylta, and rullsylta. Common seasonings are onions, white pepper, allspice, cloves, salt and bay leaves, and occasionally carrots and herbs are added to the ingredients. Sylta is often regarded as a seasonal food eaten at the