[FrostyM]

I was wondering if people who keep pigs have tried making brawn/headcheese. I have just tried a slice of mine and feel it was well worth the effort. Having never tried brawn before (a delicacy I feel my generation has missed out on) I think mine tastes a little bit like corned beef and is quite nice on crackers. I have included a photo because it looks better than I thought it would. I would recommend making it to anyone who keeps pigs.

[Bionic]

Frosty, yours does look very good but I think you are righ about a generation thing. I remember having it when I was young and wasn't keen then. My taste has probably changed now but not enough to go to the effort of making it.
Sally

[hexhammeasure]

My father used to make brawn when we were kids... I asked him last month to show me how it was made, took a long while and we missed a few delicacies out so didn't get a lot for the effort we put in but it tasted ok I am trying different flavours next time though

[Eve]

We make it from every pig's head, it takes a while but it's worth the effort.    I remember eating it when I was a child (I'm now 38) when I lived on the continent, but it's not that common now. Not posh enough, I suppose 

[ZacB]

FrostyM that looks superb. Have a head in the fridge defrosting at the mo to have another go at making brawn for nibbles over the festive period. Mixed results in the past. First recipe followed far too many shallots and parsley - edible but only just 
Second recipe definitely better but not a vast amount of flavour - great stock made though from the cooking liquid 
For the third attempt was planning to use the reserved reduced stock from the last attempt and have a go at another recipe. Did you add anything to your meat mix other than the parsley and some cooking liquid?
You might go the whole hog and list the whole recipe 

[NormandyMary]

That looks deeeeeeelish. I havent had brawn since my childhood, mother made a mean one. Yours looks just as tasty if not even tastier! I made picalilli the other day and I have to say its come out very well, a good dollop of that would go with your brawn a treat!

[Rosemary]

Looks lovely but I coudn't eat anything called headcheese 

[goosepimple]

Int' olde days when we had a telly, I'm sure River Cottage did headcheese on a programme about all things you could do with piggy.  I think Hugh said that the tastiest bit of the pig was its ears (we buy them dried for the dog).
 
But yes, I'm with Rosemary 'headcheese' sounds like something growing behind your sweaty ears.

[Greenerlife]

Yea - I make brawn and have to say - yours looks fab!   Would also dd that Ido ot put everything in mine like HFW does - I prefer mine without the skin and the really fatty bits!  A friend made it with everything in, and he pretty much ate allofit himself in two meals which I thought was piggier than a pig!  he also ut all the ghastly bones of the head including the teeth rough his waste disposal unit which I didn't think was wise....

[FrostyM]

Thanks for all the kind words guys  This was my first attempt to I am very happy with the results, it is currently disappearing from the fridge at a mighty rate. I think i might be one generation on from most here as I didn't even get to try it in my childhood (then again I am only 23  ) but none the less I am glad i made the effort. The recipe I used was HFW's from The River Cottage Meat Book.


Hugh says boil the quartered head, 2 trotters, 2 onions (quartered), a bunch of herbs (I used parsley, theme and bay leaves), and a selection of spices (i used mixed peppercorns, cloves and mustard seeds). Boil for about 4 hours, pick the meat from the bones and leave to cool. I used most of the meat but discarded a good bit of the fat as I didn't want too much fat in the final product. I diced the meat to about 2cm cubes and tossed with some chopped parsley, the juice of half a lemon and some salt and pepper to taste. I put the meat mixture into a loaf tin, added a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquor and put in the fridge under a weight (i used a can of beer).


I hope the recipe might be of use to some people. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone, it is a bit of work but i think it is worth the effort. Also I suggest that from here on out we should ban the use of the name "headch**se" and just stick to brawn in case we put people off   

[goosepimple]

It does look very yummy, what are you eating it with - some nice bread and a few olives or is it more tatties and veg?

[FrostyM]

It has so far been tried on some sourdough and  on some crackers, also fried up on toast and fried up with some left over cabbage. When it is fried it does melt down to chunks of meat but there has been no complaint thus far    (although my personal favourite is simply on crackers). I am hoping to tackle some liver paté next, any recipes would be greatly appreciated 

[goosepimple]

Good for you FrostyM, happy christmas