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An Easter Picnic Lunch

It is still too cold and windy for the BBQ, but yesterday’s sunny weather was ideal for a picnic lunch. It was also time to return to some traditional cooking. I still had half a pig’s head and two trotters in the freezer from last month’s Basingstoke farmers’ market and so I turned my attention to a dish that was traditionally part of the feast that followed when pigs were slaughtered on the farms from early autum to late March:

Sülze

Brawn.jpg

A variation on the English brawn or ‘head cheese’, but chunkier and set in acidulated jelly, this is a speciality of my home region. My mother taught me how to prepare this in the propper way after she clubbed together with a farmer friend to raise a pig for the household back in the early Seventies (we made the easy dishes, they prepared the black puddings, sausages and smoked hams). Nowadays, there are practically no chefs left in Germany who prepare this dish in the old-fashioned way: almost all of them use gelatine to set the aspic, but there is really no need for this. Some good, traditional recipes can be found on ‘Nachttopf’—but it helps if you can read German.

Working with aspic (jellied stock) has gone out of fashion and part of the reason for this is the potential hygiene hazard: jellied stock is an ideal growth medium for bugs (back in my time in the lab I managed to grow bacterial lawns for my antimicrobial assays in ninety minutes, so this is never far from my mind). Working with half a pig’s head means that large volumes of meat and stock need to be processed and chilled quickly, so the kitchen will have to be ready. You’ll need ample fridge space, a large stock-pot and have the sink and work surfaces clear. Ideally also have some plastic chiller cubes in the freezer which can be used in a waterbath to cool down the stock and jelly as quickly as possible.

This takes 2 days to prepare.

½ pig’s head; 1 trotter (helps jelly to set); 1 onion; 2 sticks celery (better still: a thick slice of celeriac); 1 large carrot; good handful parsley (stalks are fine); 1 tsp each: coriander & lightly crushed pepper; pinch carraway seeds (if handy); 2 cloves; 2 bay leaves; 3 crushed juniper berries;
Wash the head and trotter, cover with water (about 3 l) and bring to the boil. Pour off water, flush with cold water and rinse thoroughly. Shave off the bristles and trim obvious dirty and bristly bits between the trotter’s toes and from the head. Just cover with fresh water, bring to a lively simmer and skim repeatedly for the first 30 min. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Add the spices and roughly chopped stock vegetables and simmer for 4h.
Drain and chill stock in a smaller pot (preferably in a water- or icebath). Discard the vegetables. Trim off and chill the meat (work quickly, leaving the meat whole—it cuts easier when cold. The skin and thick layer of fat on the cheek can be trimmed off separately: I add some of the skin to the meat and make crackling and lard with the fat).

2-3 tbsp white wine (or cider) vinegar; 150 g lean gammon; 1 egg white; 2 gherkins; &frac12 jar mushrooms or 50g small button mushrooms steamed and marinated (this can simply be done in pickle juice); 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
Lift the fat off the stock. Poach the gammon in it for about 20 minutes and set aside. Lightly beat the eggwhite until it just holds air then stir into the stock and and reduce to just over ½ pint. The eggwhite will clarify the stock. Add the vinegar to taste and adjust seasoning. Pour through a fine metal sieve set over a colander with a double or tripple layer of muslin. Use immediately.
While the stock is reducing, cut the cold meats into neat cubes. Finely slice the mushrooms and chop the gherkins. Mix with the parsley and a little white pepper.
Prepare a suitable mold (a loaf tin is ideal). Lining the mold with clingfilm makes it easiest to lift out the finished product and also serves to keep it covered. Otherwise rub with a little oil; the Sülze can then be upended onto a plate after dipping the dish briefly into hot water. Loosely arrange the cubed meats and garnish, adding the clarified stock as you go. Chill quickly (best in an ice bath), cover with clingfilm and leave to set for 3h to overnight in the fridge. Eat within 2 days, served with gherkins, pickled onions, made mustard, flaky salt, white pepper and light rye bread or potato salad plus, of course, beer (or cider). Tip: use a large, heavy knife to slice. For neat results, dip the blade into hot water and apply gentle but firm pressure. An electric meat slicer is best for sandwich-thin slices.

Potato Salad
The new potatoes are not here yet and I was left with a few old, waxy spuds from last week’s market, but they make an acceptable mayonaisy salad:

4-5 potatoes, scrubbed; 1 tbsp natural yoghurt; 1½ tbsp mayonaise; 1 hard-boiled egg; 1 gherkin; 2 spring onions; 2tsp finely chopped parsley; few drops lemon juice; salt & pepper
Boil the potatoes in their skins unitil just tender, leave to cool and peel. Cut into thick slices (ca. 1 cm). Roughly chop the egg and finely chop the gherkin and spring onions, including the green parts. Mix all the dressing ingredients together to taste and stir in the potatoes. Leave in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

A not-so-traditional Easter lunch perhaps, but lamb is actually not in season at this time of year. A fruity yeast cake would be a traditional offering to round off the occasion; alas I haven’t had much luck with baking lately :}

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