Headcheese 2

Sorry for the delay in posting. I know the legions of head cheese fanatics have been waiting with bated breath. For the rest of you Grand Rapidians still on the fence and letting this headcheese go disregarded on Reserve's shelves, let me assure you again that you are missing something truly outstanding. Headcheese is one of the most enjoyable ways to make use of the whole beast, an ethic every carnivore should probably feel at least a little compelled to embrace. But believe me, it's not difficult, not as scary and weird as you might think. So take a chance. You'll be glad you did.

For those who make charcuterie, headcheese is also challenging and incredibly fun, the kind of fun you find in Halloween. A little dark and disturbed. Wrong but so right.

This deliciously macabre photo was taken after our brined pig's head spent several hours on the stove simmering in an intense broth of pork stock and aromatic vegetables, herbs and spices. Brandon is picking off the flavorful and tender meat and the broth has gone back on the stove to reduce. One thing we learned from trial and error is that head cheese is at its best when no outside gelatin is added. Instead, we reduce the cooking liquid and add additional pork skin to the pot to make our own gelatin and intensify the head's natural flavor. The gelatin content is important in binding the pieces of lean meat together in the finished sausage. To help matters along a bit more, the cooked skin is scraped clean of fat, finely ground and added to the mix.

When the stock is sufficiently reduced we add it to the lean and skin and pack the whole mess into a large casing. The casing is tensioned to fill it as tightly as possible then hung to chill and thoroughly set overnight. Two days is better. The longer the rest, the more mature and cohesive the flavor becomes.

When head cheese is made properly, when each detail has been attended to carefully, it can be sliced paper thin and this is how we like it best. When eaten, it yields without protest, melting almost instantly and releasing waves of flavor. No pork tenderloin can hold a candle to it.