SC - Pig slaughtering-OOP

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Patrick Hood wrote:
> 
> > This is correct. My grandmother always added 6 extra ears and 6 eztra
> noses
> > to the headcheese recipe. She always made headcheese which in our area is
> the
> > same as souse except it has no vinegar in it.
> 
> Without the vinegatr what broke down the cartaledge to release the pectins?

FWIW, gelatin is the broken-down form of collagen, one substance from
which some connective tissue is formed, and it is hot-water-soluble,
unlike elastin, which is basically sinew. Pectin is a vegetable
compound.  By coincidence, it so happens I made a lamb stew the other 
night from an entire leg of lamb, bone and all, sawn through and cut
into big chunks. I cooked it for perhaps two hours (no vinegar or other
acid in the main cooking, although at the last minute I added some
commercial recaito -- basically a seasoned puree of cilantro and other
aromatic vegetables -- which did contain some vinegar), and it was
pretty easy to determine which was the collagen that had broken down
into gelatin, which was the elastin that hadn't, and which was the
cartilage, which tends to be attached to bones via collagen adhesion,
which is why the bones tend to separate from the cartilage when cooked
enough. It all gelled when cool, but again, there was no noticable
softening or breakdown of the cartilage. 

> Also, how well do jellied meats go over at events?  I thought pickled
> herring was tame but have found few southerners who will try it.  I would
> guess pork jellos would be seen as even worse.

Hmmm. It's a tough call. My own experience has been that people will eat
foods that _contain_ meat or fish-flavored gelatin, if they can convince
themselves that the dish itself does not actually _consist_ of meat or
fish gelatin. So, the jelly-glazed brawn with mustard is okay, but a
tournesole blue jelly quivering up at you on the plate tends, around
here, to get something of a lukewarm reception. On the other hand,
gelatin being basically pure protein, it can be pretty rich when
concentrated enough to be firm; even for people who like the stuff, how
much can you eat? I don't think it's necessarily a comment on either the
quality of the dish or the sophistication (or lack thereof) of the
diners' tastes. It's just that a little goes a long way. 

You  might try it as an integral part of another dish, like, say, the
jellied brawn mentioned above. In late period this would have been made
from a boned-out whole small pig. For SCA feast purposes, this would be
something like a boneless piece of fresh ham with some skin on it,
brined, rinsed and boiled like corned spareribs, then pressed into a
mold, skin side down, and covered with the reduced cooking stock. You
can then chill it all, and you have the option of removing it from the
mold and coating it with more gelatin layers. It is served cold, in
slices. Then you can tease the diners and suggest that if they don't
want to eat it, it's probably that they're too wimpy to try the mustard
you made for it. 

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com