What is brawn made from? Homemade brawn from pork head: recipe and its secrets

Prepared from boiled meat and various offal with the addition of herbs and spices. In fact, this dish resembles jellied meat. It can be both an excellent cold appetizer and the basis for a good sandwich. Many housewives make brawn at home from a pig's head. You can prepare it in a variety of ways. As an example, we can consider several of the most interesting and popular options.

Flavorful snack

To prepare delicious brawn at home from a pig’s head, you first need to purchase all the necessary ingredients:

the head of a pig weighing about 2 kilograms, 1 carrot, 6 cloves of garlic, 10 black peppercorns and 4 bay leaves.

Making brawn at home from a pig's head is quite simple. True, this procedure takes quite a lot of time:

  1. First, the washed and cleaned head must be boiled. For flavor, you can add bay leaf, pepper and chopped carrots.
  2. The finished product must be cooled, and then carefully remove the meat from the bones. After this, it should be cut into small pieces.
  3. To the resulting mass you can add a little chopped parsley, garlic squeezed through a press and carrots, which were cooked along with the meat.
  4. The products must be mixed thoroughly.
  5. Wrap the finished mass in thin gauze and form into a loaf.
  6. Place the press on top and leave the product in this position overnight.

In the morning, you can make wonderful sandwiches from the cooked brawn.

Zelts in Ukrainian

Some experts consider Italy to be the birthplace of brawn. Others tend to think it's China. But the vast majority are sure that this dish has German roots. They say it is even named after the town of Seelze, which is located in Lower Saxony. Nevertheless, in any country housewives know this product well and make it in their own way. Thus, in Ukraine, brawn is very often prepared at home (from a pig’s head). To do this they use the following set of products:

for a pork head weighing 4 kilograms: 1 onion, ground pepper, 5 bay leaves, 8 cloves of garlic, salt, 1 carrot, 5 allspice peas and 10 black pepper.

The process of preparing such a product involves performing several successive steps:

  1. First of all, you need to chop the head into pieces, and then put them in a large saucepan (or bucket), add water and leave to soak overnight.
  2. In the morning they should be cleaned, filled with water again and then cooked for at least 6 hours, remembering to constantly skim off the foam.
  3. Already 3 hours after boiling, you can add spices and add a little salt. Otherwise, the meat will be bland and tasteless.
  4. Remove the finished pieces from the broth.
  5. Remove the cooked pulp from the bone.
  6. Cut off the skin and cut the meat and lard into small pieces.
  7. Add chopped garlic and pepper and mix well.
  8. Place the resulting mass on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at a temperature of at least 200 degrees.
  9. After partial cooling, transfer the mixture into a mold (this can be a regular bag), compact it and put it under a press overnight.

The brawn turns out soft, juicy and very aromatic.

Simple method

Beginning housewives will definitely love this original method. So, how to cook brawn from a pig's head? For it you will need:

for 1 kilogram of pork head, 3 cloves of garlic, salt, 2 onions and a little peppercorns.

The brawn is easy to make:

  1. First, the pork head must be soaked in cold water for at least two hours.
  2. After this, it needs to be boiled with peppercorns and onions (right in the husk) for about three hours. Readiness can be checked by the condition of the components: the broth should be sticky and the meat should be soft.
  3. Carefully cut the meat into pieces. The size of the blanks is chosen arbitrarily. The stringy and tough parts can be ground in a meat grinder.
  4. Combine both masses, add chopped garlic to them and pour broth over everything. The prepared semi-finished product should be quite thick.
  5. Place it in a mold and place it in a cool place to harden.

The result is a tender and aromatic product, which all that remains is to cut and place on a dish. It is best served with some sauce, horseradish or mustard. Now it becomes clear how to prepare brawn from a pork head. In principle, this is not difficult, but, of course, it will take a lot of time.

Fragrant mixture

There is another very interesting recipe for pork head brawn. It is usually used by residents of rural areas to find a use for the offal left after slaughtering livestock. To prepare the original sausage product you need to take:

pig's head (minimum 2 kilograms), salt, 2 raw eggs, coriander, bay leaf, two heads of garlic, 2 onions, ground pepper and beef offal (tongue, stomach and ½ kilogram of heart).

Cooking method:

  1. Soak the head in cold water for 3 hours. Before this, it can be divided into several parts. Afterwards it must be thoroughly scraped and treated in a solution of potassium permanganate.
  2. Cook the processed pieces for 3 hours, adding the heart and tongue to them.
  3. After boiling, be sure to remove the foam, and then add salt, onion and bay leaf.
  4. Chop the finished meat products with a knife.
  5. Add beaten eggs, salt, coriander, pepper and pour in a glass of broth.

After this, the mixture must be mixed, put under a press and left there until it cools completely. Those who have tried this “sausage” believe that this is the best recipe for pork head brawn.

Natural form

Any product must have its own shell. This way it can be isolated from the external environment and prevent various types of contaminants from reaching the surface. In addition, the shell retains the shape of the finished product and prevents it from spreading. Since ancient times, people have made homemade brawn from a pig's head in the stomach. This option was considered the simplest and most accessible. The following components were used for the work:

pork head, 6 cloves of garlic, salt, half a kilogram of pork pulp, 2 onions, allspice, 2 bay leaves, a little vegetable oil and stomach.

The brawn is prepared as follows:

  1. First you need to treat the stomach. To do this, first of all you need to carefully cut off the fat from the outside. Then the stomach itself needs to be sprinkled with salt and left in this form for several hours to remove the mucus inside it. After this, the product should be rinsed well and soaked in water several times.
  2. Cut the head into pieces randomly, and then cook them for 3 hours, adding a whole onion, bay leaf, a couple of cloves of garlic and salt to the broth.
  3. Remove all bones and cut the lard and meat into small pieces.
  4. Add salt, minced onion and garlic and pepper.
  5. Fill your stomach with the prepared mixture. Sew up the hole with thread. The stomach must be pierced with a needle in several places.
  6. Place the stomach in a saucepan and boil it in boiling water for 40 minutes.
  7. Coat the finished product with vegetable oil, and then place it on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees.
  8. Place the brawn under pressure. This is necessary so that excess moisture is removed from it.

Now the product can be placed in the refrigerator for 2 hours, and after that you can eat it with pleasure.

"Sausage" in a bottle

Most sausages produced by the meat industry have a round cross-section. This was not done by chance, because in this form the product is easier to use for making sandwiches. That is why many people prepare brawn from a pig's head in a bottle. As a result, after cooling, the product already takes on the desired shape. As an example, we can consider one good recipe that uses the following set of products:

2.5 kilograms of pork head, 1 kilogram of veal, 10 black peppercorns and 5 coriander, 2 onions, salt, 3 bay leaves, 2 cloves and a head of garlic.

The technology for preparing such a product is similar to the previous options:

  1. First, the pig's head, cut into pieces, must be soaked in water for 3 hours.
  2. After this, transfer it to a saucepan and cook for 4 hours, adding veal, pepper and onion.
  3. Carefully remove all bones, chop the remaining meat into pieces and place them in a deep bowl.
  4. Add ½ cup of broth, finely chopped garlic and other seasonings.
  5. Cut off the top of a plastic bottle and fill the rest with the prepared mixture.
  6. Place the container in the refrigerator to cool for 3 hours.

After this, the bottle needs to be cut, and the finished cylindrical brawn should be cut into neat circles.

Energy value of the product

Seltz is a sausage product obtained by mechanical, chemical and physical processing of the original components.

According to experts, it is a product with high nutritional value. Perhaps that is why it is more often prepared in winter, when the human body needs additional help. From this it is clear that brawn is a good source of energy.

It becomes interesting, how great is his power? As you know, according to the classic recipe, pork head meat is usually used to prepare such a product. Spices, vegetables and some offal are sometimes added to it. The calorie content of pork head brawn is quite high. It is 336 kilocalories per 100 grams of finished product. Most of this amount comes from the pig's head. Due to the increased content of proteins and fats, its energy value reaches 216 kilocalories. The rest comes from additional ingredients. This circumstance explains why brawn saturates the body so quickly, giving it strength for further growth and development.

    Here are the recipes tested in my family.)

    1. classic. This is how my great-grandmother prepared brawn. Meat, pork and beef, in a ratio of 2:1, cut into medium pieces, add pork legs (2-3 pieces per kilogram of meat), and ears (the same 2 per kilogram) and cook in jellied mode, just take less water. Salt to taste. Clean and prepare the stomach (marinate for 24 hours in salt and onions) for about 20 minutes. After six hours, remove the meat, legs, and ears. Cut the ears into strips, remove the bones from the legs and chop the pulp. Add spices and a little broth and fill the stomach with the filling. Form a tight envelope, always without voids. Tie it with a strong thread. And let it cook for another 3 hours on low heat. Then take it out and put it under pressure for two hours to cool down. And then, together with the oppression, put it in the refrigerator overnight.

    2.Modern).Everything is the same, but instead of the stomach, use a thick and transparent plastic bag. In this case, of course, there is no need to finish cooking. Boil the meat for 8-9 hours, cool, add warm but not hot broth at the rate of 1 glass (250 g) per kilogram of filling. Yes, an important point, before mixing the broth with meat, strengthen its gelatin (1 sachet per glass). and let it, the gelatin, dissolve. Then everything is as usual. Pack, press under pressure, cool and put in the refrigerator.

    3. Know-how)) Cut the meat into small pieces, combine with spices and salt. And put it in the refrigerator to ripen for three hours. Next, prepare the shell. Take a regular tetra pack juice bag. It is convenient to use a 1.5 liter bag. Rinse it thoroughly and dry it. Then, take the meat, mix it with Dry (!) gelatin (2 packets of potion per kilogram of meat), don’t forget salt and spices), and fill the bag with this mixture. About 2/3. Next, remove excess air, tightly staple the top of the bag, and put all this joy into a pan of water. It is important to use a high pan. The water should be higher than the level of the meat in the bag. Cook for 2 hours. Then cool in the cold and put in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, carefully cut the bag, and as a result we have brawn in a gelatin shell. And, by the way, about spices. Everyone, of course, has their own preferences, but brawn cannot be deprived of dill, garlic and salt)))

    Bon appetit))

    To prepare the brawn, we will need about 5 kilograms of pork head, three large onions, two carrots, parsley root, 5-6 bay leaves, a teaspoon of a mixture of red and black peppercorns, and salt.

    First, the pig's head must be cut into four parts, the eyes cut out, and the brains and jaw removed. Then you need to put the cleaned pork head in a five-liter pan with lightly salted water, boil it for 30-40 minutes, periodically removing the foam. When there is no more foam in the broth, you can add bay leaf, pepper and salt to taste.

    Then cut the onions in half and add them to the meat. Add parsley root and carrots whole to the broth. Cook for about 2 more hours. The broth can be turned off when the meat begins to separate well from the bones. Sort through the meat, remove bones and vegetables. Cut the meat and skin into pieces, add salt to taste, mix, put in a bowl and place under a press so that all the liquid drains out. Then put the meat in the refrigerator overnight, and in the morning you can eat the prepared homemade brawn. And you can make jellied meat from broth and vegetables. So cook two independent dishes at once. Bon appetite!

    Making brawn at home is very simple and anyone can do it. To prepare it, you need to purchase pork and beef legs and, of course, they must already be processed and ready for cooking.

    It is better to cook these limbs in a large saucepan for about seven to eight hours - over low heat during this time the meat will cook to such an extent that it will begin to fall off the bone - and this means that everything is going right.

    Unlike preparing jellied meat, water is not added to the brawn after it has boiled. When preparing brawn, this is exactly what you need - for all the water to evaporate. During the cooking process, of course, it is worth adding a variety of spices to your taste and salt, of course.

    We separate the bones and remove them, and when there is very little water, we simply put them in an ordinary plastic bag and put them in a cool place.

    After our product has hardened, it can be cut with a knife and used instead of sausage, besides, it is prepared with your own hands and without any impurities or additives - environmentally friendly and without harm to health :)

    I usually prepare liver brawn at home using this recipe.

    You need: 0.5 kg - raw chicken liver, 0.2 kg. - lard, 5 tbsp. l. - semolina, 2 eggs. Garlic, carrots, herbs, salt, pepper, onion - all to taste. Grind the liver and lard. It’s better to cut it all with a knife, so the structure will be visible in the cut and it will look more like brawn. Mix all this with semolina, egg, onion, garlic, carrots. Season with pepper and salt. Add greens. We put it in the sleeve. It is advisable to tie it so that there is no air there. And he ties it in another sleeve (for all sorts of firefighters). Place the brawn in a deep saucepan, carefully add water, cover with a lid and simmer on low heat for 2-2.5 hours.

    I tried to make it with chicken and pork liver using the same recipe, but it wasn’t the same. It is from chicken liver that the brawn is aromatic and tender.

Seltz is a dish that is present in the cuisines of many peoples of the world. The method of preparation and composition of this meat dish is the same almost everywhere. The only difference is the category to which this product belongs. In most countries, brawn is classified as a cold appetizer. In our country it is considered a sausage product. In principle, this is what it is - it is a cold appetizer, usually served with spicy seasonings of horseradish or mustard. What is brawn, is there any benefit to it, how to prepare it, what requirements does GOST impose on it, read on.

What is brawn

As you have already learned, brawn is a sausage product that may contain meat, liver, tongue, lard and other products, herbs and spices. Our ancestors borrowed the word “brawn” from the Germans, where it was called “sülze,” which translated means aspic. Although by the word “aspic” we mean a completely different dish. True, close in meaning.

Many housewives cook brawn here. You can freely buy it in the store in the sausage department. And few people know that there is a GOST for this product. Its number is GOST R 55367-2012, where the last four digits are the year the standard was introduced.

The following information will be more interesting to those who buy this product in the store. According to GOST, brawn is divided into three categories: A, B and C. The category must be indicated on the packaging. The difference between these categories is the mass fraction of muscle tissue:

For the production of brawn we use:

Pork, including trimmed pork, i.e. those parts of the carcass that are obtained during cutting;

Beef, including trim;

By-products: liver, tongue, heart, pork and beef heads, ears, fetlock joints, pork and beef legs, pork cheeks (tanks), pork skin;

Dietary blood and its formed elements;

Broth from cooking offal, bones, connective tissue, cartilage;

Salt, spices and herbs.

GOST clearly stipulates the fat content in trimmed pork and beef. For beef it should be between 6 and 20 percent. For pork - from 30 to 50 percent.

GOST allows the use of flavor and aroma enhancers, color fixatives, phosphates, and acidity regulators, which are permitted in Russia.

It can be packaged in both artificial and natural casings. Paraffin coating is allowed.

The brawn is produced both in whole blocks and in slices, the weight of which must be at least 100 grams. On the packaging, the manufacturer is required to indicate the name of the meat product, category, weight, nutritional value, date of production and packaging, packaging method (for example, “vacuum packed”), sell-by date and expiration date.

The requirement for the presence of genetically modified (GMO) products is mandatory.

The shelf life of brawn depends on storage conditions and packaging method. If the product was produced without the use of a vacuum or a modified atmosphere, in a permeable shell, then its sales period should be no more than 3 days. Storage temperature from 0 to 6 degrees.

If the product is packaged in an impermeable casing, its shelf life is extended to as much as 15 days.

For brawn packaged in a vacuum or modified atmosphere, if stored at a temperature of 0 to 6 degrees, the sales period is only 10 days.

What is the brawn that lies on the shelves of the sausage department in the store, you now know. What homemade brawn is, you will learn in more detail below in the article, which will tell you how to cook brawn. It should be noted right away that in terms of the method of preparation and the presence of starting products, home-made and store-bought are no different. It's all about quality. Although not all manufacturers produce a bad product. What should be in a brawn of a certain category and how to choose it by name, the tables at the end of the article will help you decide.

Seltz benefits

In general, brawn is perceived by many as a product that contains only offal, which is a shame to throw away and cannot be eaten. So they came up with brawn. In fact, this is not entirely true. Yes, to prepare brawn, both at home and industrially, those parts of the animal that are classified as offal are used. But this does not mean at all that they do not contain any useful nutrients and do not provide any benefits to the human body.

The first thing to note is that all such products contain tendons and bones. And this is gelatin. Gelatin is not in the form that we dilute when making jelly, but with the same properties and more natural.

There is a legend that brawn helps to quickly relieve a hangover in the morning. The issue of hangover is controversial. It must be remembered that brawn is served with spicy seasonings and it is they that increase the metabolic process and blood circulation in the body.

But it is true that our ancestors specially cooked bones and cartilage to improve the condition of joints. And today it is recommended to use gelling products to support joints. After all, this is nothing more than collagen. It is collagen that supports our skin and ligaments. It is the main component of connective tissue.

The second important component of brawn is amino acids, where the amino acid glycine needs to be isolated first. This amino acid is involved in many metabolic processes in the body, including DNA synthesis and regulation of the transmission of nerve impulses.

And the help of brawn after heavy drinking is not such a myth. Glycine helps relieve its toxic effects.

Although it is cooked mainly from offal, it also contains a number of important vitamins and minerals, including vitamin B12 and iron, protein and many other beneficial nutrients.

Seltz is a high-calorie product, which means it gives a surge of strength and energy.

Due to its high protein content, this product can be included in the diet of people who want to build muscle mass.

Calorie table for brawn

How to cook brawn

Most of us often cook jellied meat. Preparing brawn is no more difficult. It is cooked mainly from beef or pork head, removing the eyes, brain, and ears. Although ears are present in some recipes. In addition to the head, trimmings of meat, legs, heart, liver, and tongue can be added to it.

The brawn takes a long time to cook, several hours. When cooking, spicy roots can be added to the broth: parsley, carrots, onions, bay leaves.

No gelatin is added. Meat broth contains a sufficient amount of gelling substances and hardens well.

Cooked meat is separated from the bones. Cut into pieces. Season with pepper, herbs, spices. Place on gauze or napkin. They tie it and put it under a press until it hardens completely, which makes the brawn denser in structure than jellied meat.

What should be in the brawn, see this table

Seltz in the cuisines of the world

Historically, such dishes were classified as simple peasant food, which was prepared in many countries. And many countries argue about the primacy of the recipe. Although the composition of the finished dish differs in some cases, the method of preparation and serving is almost the same. Typically, it is cut into pieces and served with seasonings.

In Austria and Germany this dish is called brawn. It is often cooked from pork head and legs. In Bavaria, pickles and vinegar may be added. It can be served with vinegar, sunflower or pumpkin oil, and chopped onions.

In Bulgaria he is called "pasha". It is cooked from a pig's head, including the ears, and often the tongue is added. A lot of garlic is added to the broth.

In the Czech Republic, brawn is cooked from a pig's head with the addition of legs. Onions, peppers, carrots, parsley, celery root, and sometimes eggs may be added to it.

In Scandinavian countries, pig's head, beef and pork legs are used. Season with thyme, allspice, bay leaf. Serve with mustard or pickled beets. This is a traditional New Year's dish.

In the Baltic countries, the main product in brawn is pork head and legs. But higher quality meat pieces, vegetables, spices, and herbs can also be added to it.

Seltz harm and contraindications

Seltz is a nutritious and satisfying product. Despite the fact that it is prepared from offal. Most often it is cooked from pork head, which contains a lot of fat, and, therefore, cholesterol. Therefore, it is not recommended for frequent use by people who are prone to rapid weight gain and who are obese.

Everything should be within reasonable limits. According to the recommendations of nutritionists, eating a few pieces once a week will be enough.

How to choose high-quality brawn, see the “Test purchase” program

How brawn is made at the enterprise

Seltz is a pressed boiled meat product with the addition of offal. This is an incredibly tasty and easy-to-prepare homemade dish that uses readily available ingredients.

This brawn can be cooked directly in a baking bag or in a regular bag. The brawn can be prepared with the addition of tongue, lung and other offal. To prepare the dish along with meat and lard, I used beef liver.

This recipe is slightly different from the traditional recipe, when the pork head is first boiled, then the meat, lard and skin are separated from the bones, after which it is all cut into pieces, salt and spices are added, only then it is put in a bag and pressure is placed on top.

To prepare brawn, I often use not a pig’s head, but any meat (including trimmings) of pork, possibly with the addition of beef. And immediately I put the prepared meat, lard and liver into a bag in which it will all be cooked. So, see the detailed recipe for brawn at home.

Ingredients for making brawn:

  • Pork meat 300 g
  • Liver (beef or pork) 500 g
  • Fresh unsalted lard 500 g
  • Garlic 1 small head
  • Eggs 4 pcs
  • Flour 1 cup
  • Salt 1 tbsp.
  • Ground black pepper 1 tsp.
  • Bay leaf 2 pcs.

Homemade brawn recipe:

1. Prepare meat, lard and liver. This time I used both beef and pork. It is better to use lard that is fatty and without layers.

2. Cut the meat and lard into small or slightly larger pieces, place in a deep bowl. The liver can be cut into small pieces or, to save time, grind it into a meat grinder and mix it with meat and lard.

3. Add salt, pepper, chopped bay leaf, eggs and flour. Mix everything well.

4. Place the resulting mass in a plastic bag and tie it or give it a rectangular shape and roll it up. For this I used a special sealed baking bag. If this is not the case, use a regular plastic transparent and completely sealed bag.

You can buy brawn at the store. As you learned from the previous article, according to GOST there are several categories of this sausage product. But many housewives prefer to cook it themselves. Most often, brawn is cooked from a pork head with the addition of various spices and seasonings. In this article you will find several recipes on how to cook brawn at home.

Zelts is a sausage product made from meat drenched in a gelling broth. There are many different recipes where the meat is minced or cut into small pieces. Some types of brawn can be seasoned with spices, others contain pieces of vegetables and herbs. One type may be looser, another more dense.

The brawn can form when frozen into a square, rectangular or round shape. It is most often cooked from a pig's head. Beef, tongue and other offal may be added.

How to cook brawn from a pig's head

The main part of the pork carcass that is used to prepare brawn is the head. But other parts can be added: legs, tail, ears, tongue and more. The legs, tail, and ears contain more gelatin, which allows the finished dish to harden well and keep its shape. After all, gelatin is not added to brawn.

Beef can be added to pork head brawn to improve the taste and aroma.

Before preparing the brawn, the pork head is washed well. For this purpose, it can be soaked in water or brine (for taste and aroma) for several hours.

Then it is carefully scraped with a knife to thoroughly clean the skin. If necessary, scorch to remove bristles before soaking.

The pork head is cut into several parts, removing the brains and eyes. But the ears and the “patch” are left behind. They make the broth freeze better.

True, in central Italy the eyes are left on when preparing brawn. But this is a local custom.

The prepared head and other parts of the carcass or pieces of meat are placed in a pan and filled with water. It cooks for a long time, several hours, until the meat falls off the bone. When cooking, spicy roots, onions, carrots, bay leaves, and allspice are added to the broth. The entire process of preparing brawn can take 6-10 hours.

When the meat is ready, remove the pan from the heat. Allow to cool slightly and remove the head from the broth. Separate completely from the bones. Cut into small pieces or twist in a meat grinder.

The form for hardening the brawn is covered with gauze or cling film. Lay out the meat and pour in a small amount of broth. Wrap the ends of the gauze and place the brawn under the press. Leave it like this for 10-12 hours.

Pork head brawn recipes

Pork's head is an offal and is not that expensive. And the brawn itself was once called peasant food. It is prepared in almost all countries of the world. In some of them it is traditionally served at the New Year's or Christmas table, like jellied meat in our country.

Now let's move on to the recipes

This is the simplest recipe with a minimum set of ingredients.

Pork head – 1 piece (or half, quarter)

Bay leaf – 2-4 pieces

Allspice – 8-12 grains

Carrots – 1 root vegetable

Into the broth:

Fresh garlic

Preparation

Prepare your head. Rinse it well and scrape off the skin with a knife. Remove eyes and brains. Check your ears to make sure there is no stubble or dirt left there.

Place in a saucepan and add water. Place on the stove and watch for foam to form. When boiling, remove it as thoroughly as possible.

Reduce heat until water simmers and simmer for several hours.

An hour before the end of cooking, add peeled carrots, pepper, bay leaf and salt. In order for the finished brawn to be properly salted, the broth should be slightly salted.

Remove the cooked pork head from the broth. Discard the vegetables and strain the broth through cheesecloth or a fine sieve. You can lighten it.

Once the head has cooled, separate the meat from the bones. Finely chop or separate into fibers by hand. You can twist it. Cut the ears into thin strips or roll them.

Peel the garlic cloves and pass them through the garlic press.

Line the sieve with gauze. Lay out the meat, adding garlic.

Add a little broth and tie the gauze tightly. Place a press (a jar of water) on top and leave until completely hardened for several hours. When the meat has cooled completely, it can be placed in the refrigerator. In winter you can take it out onto the balcony or loggia.

Place the frozen brawn on a plate. Before serving, cut it into slices and serve with mustard or horseradish.

To prepare brawn you will need:

Pig head

Pork tongue – 1 piece

Pork feet – 2 pieces

Onions – 1-2 heads

Garlic – 2 heads

Carrots – 1-2 roots

Allspice and bitter pepper - several grains each

Coriander – 1 teaspoon

Bay leaf – 2-4 pieces

Parsley

Preparation

Prepare the pork head as in the first recipe. Also wash the pork legs thoroughly and scrape out the skin.

Place in a saucepan, add water and place on the stove. When boiling, remove foam.

Some housewives, after cooking the meat for about 30-40 minutes, drain the first broth and add new broth. This technique will reduce the amount of harmful substances in the finished broth, for example, antibiotics.

Add onion, carrots, head of garlic. Reduce heat and cook for several hours. An hour before cooking the meat, add peppercorns and bay leaves.

Remove the finished head and legs from the broth and cool. Separate from bones and grind in a meat grinder or cut into pieces. Remove the skin from the tongue and also cut or twist it.

Wash the parsley and dry it completely from water. Finely chop, removing stems. If desired, you can cut the carrots into small pieces.

Pass a few cloves of garlic through a garlic press. Add all this to the meat and mix.

Line the mold with gauze and pour in a little broth. Tie tightly and put under a press.

The remaining broth can be used for preparing first courses and stewing meat. It is also useful for the prevention of joint diseases. That's why many people just drink it.

It is not customary for us to marinate a pork head before cooking. But this custom exists in America, England and some other countries.

To prepare brawn you will need:

For the brine:

Water – 10 liters

Table salt – 700 grams (non-iodized)

Dill, coriander, allspice - to taste and desire

For the brawn:

Pork head - half

Pork feet – 3 pieces

Onions – 1 large or 2 small heads

Carrots – 1-2 roots

Celery – 2 stalks (petiole)

Leek – 1 piece (white part)

Garlic – 1 head

Red wine vinegar – 1 tablespoon

Zest of 1 orange

Parsley

Salt pepper

Rinse the pork head thoroughly, scraping the skin well with a knife.

Prepare the brine. To do this, boil water and dissolve salt in it, add spices and spices. Cool completely.

Place the head in the brine and leave to marinate for 2-3 days in a cold place.

After marinating, rinse well with water. Place in a saucepan. Add the legs and cover with water.

When boiling, carefully remove all foam. Add chopped leeks, celery, carrots, onions, and a head of garlic. Reduce heat and cook for several hours until fully cooked.

Let cool slightly and separate the meat from the bones. Cut into pieces.

Add ground pepper to taste, chopped parsley and orange zest. Season with vinegar.

Place meat in prepared pan. Tie the gauze tightly and place under a press.

These few tips will help you prepare delicious homemade brawn.

The brawn should have a dense consistency. This can be achieved not only by placing meat under a press. There is another way.

Line the mold with cling film. You can immediately cut off enough film so that later it will be enough to cover the mold from above.

Place a layer of meat in the mold and press it with your hands or a spoon. Add a tablespoon or dessert spoon of broth. It depends on the size of the form.

Then lay out a layer of meat again and compact it again. Add broth again. And so on until all the meat is laid out. The layer should be about 1 centimeter.

Place a flat plate on top and press down firmly. You can put a bottle or jar of water. Before doing this, you need to cover the brawn with cling film, so that later after hardening it will be easier to remove the plate.

Add spices and spices to your taste.

The most important thing is not to over-salt the brawn. Especially when you pre-marinate the meat. In this case, you need to add salt at the very end of cooking, about 20-30 minutes after tasting the broth. Perhaps there will be no need to add salt.

The brawn is usually served as a cold appetizer with spicy seasonings of horseradish, mustard, and sparkle.

You can make sandwiches with it, or take it as a snack to work.

You can serve the brawn with greens, pickled or pickled cucumbers.

Once you prepare brawn at home, you will never buy it in the store again. It may take several hours to prepare, but it's worth it.

Bon appetit!