Head Cheese

bgrafsr · Sep 14, 2023

I didn't want to usurp Rusty's food thread, so I started this one.

I like head cheese and every now and then i have to get a fix.
Went to a local market in Lorain, OH, named Fligners. They have very good meats, vegetables, and specialty items.
We bought 5 or 6 pounds of their home made garlic sausage, which we really like, and then I decided to get some head cheese.
Bought 1 1/2 pounds of it, rye bread, lettuce, some garlic balogna, and other grocery items.
Came home and made myself 2 sandwiches for lunch. Wife won't eat the head cheese, but that's ok, more for me.

Babysitr · Sep 14, 2023

I like head cheese also, but a good liver sausage may beat it!

Onomea · Sep 14, 2023

Well, I've heard of it but was not familiar with what exactly head cheese is, so I looked it up:

"Head cheese (Dutch: hoofdkaas) or brawn is a cold cut terrine or meat jelly that originated in Europe. It is made with flesh from the head of a calf or pig (less commonly a sheep or cow), typically set in aspic, and 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 and sometimes the feet and heart but do not commonly include the brain, eyes or ears. Trimmings from more commonly eaten cuts of pork and veal are often used, with gelatin added as a binder..."

Head cheese - Wikipedia

Well, I am somewhat relieved to read the brain and eyes aren't commonly used. Wouldn't mind ears, I s'pose.

rockquarry · Sep 14, 2023

Onomea said:
Well, I've heard of it but was not familiar with what exactly head cheese is, so ai looked ut up:

"Head cheese (Dutch: hoofdkaas) or brawn is a cold cut terrine or meat jelly that originated in Europe. It is made with flesh from the head of a calf or pig (less commonly a sheep or cow), typically set in aspic, and 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 and sometimes the feet and heart but do not commonly include the brain, eyes or ears. Trimmings from more commonly eaten cuts of pork and veal are often used, with gelatin added as a binder..."

Head cheese - Wikipedia

Well, I am somewhat relieved to read the brain and eyes aren't commonly used. Wouldn't mind ears, I s'pose.

Head cheese tastes a lot better than it sounds.

g-dad · Sep 14, 2023

rockquarry said:
Head cheese tastes a lot better than it sounds.

Sorry, the damage has been done. Can't make the mental image go away.

For all of you who enjoy head cheese, you can have my portion. No thanks necessary!

Rudi · Sep 14, 2023

Yep, I'll have to pass on the head cheese.

tinkerer · Sep 14, 2023

Made it as a kid at hog butchering's. Good stuff...

Along with liver pudding...

Souse....Pickled pigs feet, knuckles, lard and cracklins...

Older people used everything but the squeal...Would have used that if they could catch it...

jeffrefrig · Sep 14, 2023

It's best not to look up any kind of lunch meat, sausage, wieners, or any of the "meats" usually found in the deli dept. If it tastes good, eat it and pretend it's rib eye. I do eat braunschweiger once a year or so, and I will never look at what throwaway guts it's made from.

OFT II · Sep 14, 2023

g-dad said:
Sorry, the damage has been done. Can't make the mental image go away.

For all of you who enjoy head cheese, you can have my portion. No thanks necessary!

If you think that head cheese sounds bad you sure don't want to check Jello out.

Rpg · Sep 14, 2023

It’s getting harder to find good head cheese. The stuff offered at most chain grocery stores around here are pretty inferior to the head cheese offered by independent butchers. Those guys are hard pressed to keep their doors open.

The best source is a good kosher deli. The one my family used for many years finally closed when the owner and wife passed away years ago. I periodically drive by the old deli location and remember the wife and husband sitting behind the display case when customers came in. Place looked empty until the wife popped up.

yaktamer · Sep 14, 2023

Sounds as appetizing as toe jam.

The Last Standing Knight · Sep 14, 2023

g-dad said:
Sorry, the damage has been done. Can't make the mental image go away.

For all of you who enjoy head cheese, you can have my portion. No thanks necessary!

^^^What he said.

Definate 10 on my disgustometer. Could be worse, though. This subject could've been about haggis, scrapple, or casu marzu

pharman · Sep 14, 2023

Great topic Bill!

Hi Bill...GREAT topic...it brings back fond memories of my Dad...he used to absolutely love head cheese...we used to make it when I was a kid when we butchered...he would sit there at the table and I swear he thought he was in Heaven...sounds like you...my 2 daughters look at me very strange when I tell them about my childhood butchering days...I don't think they believe me...I never acquired a taste for head cheese...kind of a change of subject, but my Mother used to tell me that when she was young she had a blood disorder and when they would butcher pigs, they would have her catch the blood in a cup and drink it...the Doctor at the time told them to do this...she told me she had a hard time drinking it...oh well it was nice that you brought back memories for me...Thanks Bill...Roger

Ivan the Butcher · Sep 14, 2023

My ex-B-I-L ate lots of it from the East end of Kentucky. It was always on the spicy side for me.

Ivan

Rustyt1953 · Sep 14, 2023

The building block of all slurried meat products.

CalifEd · Sep 14, 2023

"Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made,"
Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898)

ACORN · Sep 14, 2023

Not even if a gun was held to my head.

rockquarry · Sep 14, 2023

These exotic/trash foods are really quite good, though maybe not good for you to eat on a regualr basis, but I'm no expert. Occasional consumption of these foods is probably fine. I doubt any of them are as unhealthy as eating fast foods and some people eat that stuff often.

THE PILGRIM · Sep 14, 2023

Had Homemade when I was a kid.
Never had any Store Bought.
It’s not necessarily one of those old memories that I long to reproduce.
Now My Mother’s Fried Chicken -
The Best I ever had.

DWalt · Sep 14, 2023

My father liked all of that disgusting stuff like blood pudding , head cheese, pickled pigs feet, Braunschweger, etc. He was never successful in getting me to join him, but he tried. We lived in a predominately German community with several small slaughterhouses that made them in house. Lots of other meats I won't touch either like veal and lamb. I have watched too many lambs and calves get slaughtered when I was a kid.

Head Cheese

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