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This is very off topic (and maybe a bit eccentric) but I'm interested to know if anyone has ever seen a roasted pigs head or boars head served up at a tudor style Christmas dinner. I have looked up a lot of sites on the web to find out how to glaze and present a roast boars head it with no success.....I mean this is the internet...how can there be no information on how to cook a pigs head. If anyone has a book with this dish in it or information/personal experience on preparing this dish then please let me know.
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Thank you very much. That looks like the way to get the head glazed and crispy. I found this very very old french recipe for stuffing the head (although the truffles might be a bit expensive)
Bone the head, leaving only the jawbones (for shape) and tusks. Make a small quantity of stuffing composed of minced pig's liver, chopped apples, a little onion, sage and rosemary. Arrange this stuffing all around the inside of the head about half an inch in thickness. Now stuff the rest of the inside of the head with a second stuffing made of sausage meat, squares of ox tongue, chopped truffles, chopped apples, chopped mushrooms, chopped pistachio nuts and minced rosemary. Add one wineglass of Calvados (or sherry) and an equal quantity of cream. When the head is filled tight with this, stitch a very strong cloth over the stuffing, then bind the whole head in another strong cloth, and put it in a large pot of boiling water to boil slowly for about eight to nine hours, during which time you add more boiling water as evaporation requires. When the head is cooked and is still warm reshape in cloth, remove the wrapping and let it get cold. The ears, which have been cut off and boiled separately, are then replaced on the head with a skewer. Place the head on an oblong dish, surround it with slices of truffles, slices of apples, and strew with rosemary. --from The Viscomte in the Kitchen by Vicomte de Mauduit
This dish was considered a great delicacy only 200 years ago and now the head gets used for sausage and dog food. If times gets much worse I am sure we will see pigs heads being sold again like before.
Ron-That was a gruesome account! Im not surprised that you couldnt get a pigs head in the U.S. If its got eyes and doesn't come in a polystyrene box with the cooking time on it then its not going to sell.
Here in Spain its still very easy to buy a pigs head or even a boars head from a market so I thought it might be an idea to try to recreate this delicacy....and its certainly not expensive.
Pimiento, there is a 15th century song that you are supposed to sing to the Boar's Head. I couldn't find the music,but thought you should have the lyrics and you could improvise a flamenco version. My Dad actually sang this to me over the phone when he heard me and Mum discussing you cooking a Boar''s Head. Mum says they used to have it at the Hunt Ball when we lived in Newcastle and they always sang this. The fact my Dad sang it is even more amazing as he has Alzheimers and no memory !
The boar's head in hand bring I, (Or: The boar's head in hand bear I,) Bedeck'd with bays and rosemary. I pray you, my masters, be merry (Or: And I pray you, my masters, merry be) Quot estis in convivio (Translation: As many as are in the feast)
Chorus : Caput apri defero (Translation: The boar's head I offer) Reddens laudes Domino (Translation: Giving praises to the Lord)
The boar's head, as I understand, Is the rarest dish in all this land, Which thus bedeck'd with a gay garland Let us servire cantico. (Translation: Let us serve with a song)
Repeat chorus
Our steward hath provided this In honour of the King of Bliss; Which, on this day to be served is In Reginensi atrio. (Translation: In the Queen's hall)
In Reginensi atrio. (Translation: In the Queen's hall)
I.e. Queen's College, Oxford, where (it is said) they still do a ritual feast of the boar's head at Christmas.
Here's a helpful chap to teach you all the vocal parts. Between you, Kate and Harold, Emilio and Maya, you should be able to put together a rousing rendition....
Estevan is going to send me a recording of this song. Apparently it is still sung at many institutions in the UK that still celebrate the feast of the boars head. This is an ancient Christmas tradition that started as a decorated dish and served asthe centrepiece of the pre christian solstice feast. Over time the tradition was christianised and the boar became a symbol of death which Jesus "slew" at his resurection. Tradition traces the most popular version of the "Boar's Head" festival to Queen's College, in Oxford, England. According to legend, a student who was attacked by a boar on Christmas Eve in 1340 overcame the animal by ramming a book of Aristotle down its throat. At the subsequent Christmas-day feast, pork was on the menu. But, in honor of Christmas, the boar's head was presented, not to the hapless scholar, but to the Christ Child whose birth was being celebrated.
There is a variation of the third verse which is
Be glad, lords, both more or less, For this hath ordained our steward To cheer you all this Christmas, The boar's head with mustard.
Yet another boars head christmas carol to be found in Wynken de Wordes Christmasse carols,1521
Nowell, nowell, nowell, nowell, Tidings good I think to tell. The boar’s head that we bring here Betokeneth a prince without peer, Is born this day to buy us dear, Nowell.
A boar is a sovran beast, And acceptable in every feast, So mote this lord be to most and least, Nowell.
This boar’s head we bring with song, In worship of him that thus sprung Of a virgin to redress all wrong, Nowell.”
had it at a xmas party once, the cheek/jaw was glazed in a honey/ rough mustard-was quite tasty kinda like a crispier version of ham.
in ireland during the earlier part of the century it's what poor people had for xmas instead of goose or turkey.its kinda reviled nowadays but some of the auld people still like it as its what reminds them of "their" x-mas's past
im having venison for x-mas eve looking forward to it, made a apple cinnamon chutney to go with it.
[Pimientito:] PS : The chances of Harold singing to a roasted Pigs head are less than Zero
[Kate:] Actually I can imagine him singing to it easier than imagining him eating it!
Yeah, since he doesn't eat anything that "looks back at him" (especially if it sees you through the week ) - it's a good thing Pimientito's not roasting a boar's bum!
Just rewatched the long way around, where Ewan McGregor and Charlie go around the world by Motorcycle. In Mongolia they get served the goats head and it appears to be quite the ceremonial feast and an honour. Not only that they stew the balls of the animals - great gobs of them. Whether the animal is still alive or castrated I don't know. The kids eat them like candy. Yum!
The Boars Head, would be cool to have that at a christmas feast! Good luck with it! What you can learn on this forum!
EXPERIMENT 1 With the weight loss challenge officially on it might be inappropriate to post this but curiosity has got the better of me in the last few weeks so now I am ready to try my first ever attempt at a Tudor style roast boars head. These next posts are to follow my live progress. Apologies to Harold, Annemarie and Matic and any other vegetarians out there. The rest of this thread is probably not for you.
For anyone else who would like to follow the antics of a madman filling his spare time in Granada, here it is.....
This dish is by far the most complicated thing I have ever had a go at cooking. I went to the market this morning to pick up the things i thought i would need. Granada has some amazing fruit and veg stalls in the plaza Romanilla so I had no trouble getting all the ingredients I thought I would need.
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Hi esteban Yes i got the music thanks but didnt have time to do this over xmas.
Preparation time: All day Cooking time : Roughly 3.5 hours Ingredients : 1 zuchinni (calabaicin) mushrooms onions potatos sweet potatos parsnips 1 loaf stale bread liver pate Bacon 1/4 kilo pork sausages 5 Green apples (bramleys or granny smiths will also work) Dried prunes or apricots (whichever you prefer) shelled walnuts mushrooms peeled unsalted pine nuts or sunflower seeds Sage Rosemary thyme English mustard Honey Salt, pepper
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The head cost me only 8 Euros for nearly 5 kg. Thats 80 cents a pound! I spent about another 15 Euros on veg so this whole meal which should feed 6 people easily will cost no more than about 25 euros.
Firstly clean the head thoroughly with lots of running water and a brush. Soak the head for several hours or over night in a bucket or large pot of salted water. Before going to bed, soak the prunes or apricots in some sweet wine, jamaican rum or pistachio liquer as you prefer.
My pigs head is soaking away. More to come tomorrow.....
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