Ox head

This recipe needs advance preparation!

This recipe for cooking an ox head comes from the marvelous book: Cookbook: Food In England

I only add it for a bit of fun because I can't image that you would be able to obtain a complete ox head very easily.

Our local Sainsburys doesn't stock them.

Get this prepared by the butcher, who will send it to you split in two. Lay it

in strong salty water overnight and rinse under a briskly running tap til

thoroughly clear. The tongue should be salted separately.

Put the head into a pan with water to cover, a few peppercorns, salt ,a bunch

of herbs , and vegetable trimmings. Simmer till the bones and meat all fall

to pieces, then drain into a basin. Take out every scrap of bone and gristle

and chop the meat finely, sprinkling with powdered herbs and pepper.

Press into a mould set with a weight on top, and turn out when cold.

Garnish with parsley and serve with pickles and roast potatoes. the broth,

strained and boiled with oatmeal, onions, or a strongly flavoured vegetable

such as celery, makes a meaty soup.

Note: Be sure you put the remnants, bones, vegetables, etc., out for

the fowls to pick clean. There is enough miscellaneous picking on an ox-head

to keep an industrious hen busy for hours