On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 00:58:10 +0200, [email hidden] (Victor Sack)
Quoted message said:That's what was for dinner. Not a whole head, to be sure, for the
tongue was missing and there was only a bit of brains (too little, even
considering it is just a suckling pig). Most of the skull was
fortunately missing, too, but the jaws, teeth and all, were very much
present. I deboned - de-jawed - actually, the head, which was not such
a hot idea, I now think, as it is a lot of meticulous work. First
cooking the head would have made it much easier.I cooked the head in a flavourful mix of beef and chicken stock, to
which I added a large onion cut in rings, and various and sundry herbs
and spices. I brought the stock to the boil, put the head into it,
brought it to the boil again and reduced the heat to simmer. After a
few minutes the broth had to be skimmed. I then let it simmer for about
1.5 hours. I served the head with some pasta. The meat was extremely
tender and flavourful, particularly the snout.Victor
There's a good barbecue tour book I read a few years ago called
Smokestack Lightening by a couple of guys who were associated somehow
with Winton Marseilles' band. They drove across the country in an
aging Volvo, sampling barbecue as they were able. Somewhere in
Kentucky (I think) they ran across a place that served "snoots." Pig
noses, that is. The texture was not to their liking, to put it
politely. D and I refer to chunks of cartilage and large pieces of
artery that we sometimes find in our locally butchered, grass-fed stew
meat by the generic term "snoots" these days.
Of course these days will pass.
And a Cow Hill Mexican restaurant called Los Mochis (after the town
the owners hail from) frequently offers what they call tacos al pastor
with a meat filling made from pork cheeks. They are utterly wonderful
in every conceivable way -- rich, tender, salty, lovingly spiced, and
delicious.
--
modom