Perhaps nothing sums up the phrase “parts is parts” better than Souse, a type of head cheese which is popular (?) in the South. Now while souse is typically made from a the head of a pig, it should come as no surprise that Kroger was fresh out of pig’s heads, and even if they did have them, I really do not have pot big enough to hold one anyway !
That being said, you do not necessarily need a whole head to make souse – in fact, you could dispense with the head altogether, and use meats which are quite a bit more common, and perhaps, even more palatable to average tastes. That is what I decided to do in this recipe. While some of the traditional components are used, the bulk of the souse meat is good old pulled BBQ pork – something that few will have a problem with. Of course, I still used some ‘tasty bits’, because , hey, it is souse, and because the less common pieces of pork really do still taste like pork, in spite of any preconceived notions someone might have. Regardless, you will need some pieces of pork that have bone and cartilage in them. This is necessary to create the gelatin that holds the souse together.
When you look at commercially available souse, it looks a lot like pork pieces in jello – a pig aspic, if you will. That’s OK, but, I was able to duplicate a version of souse which I had at a local eatery – one which uses a lot of pork fat. This renders the souse more like a pork ‘butter’ instead of an aspic. The result is more like a pate and less like a slice of lunch meat, and can be spread on sandwiches or crackers.
Trust me, if you can get past the ingredients, you will really enjoy this dish !
Ingredients
- 1 pound smoked pulled BBQ pork
- 1 pound smoked hog jowl
- 2 smoked ham hocks
- 2 smoked pig tails
- 2 smoked pigs feet
- 3 pigs ears
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 package unflavored gelatin (optional)
In a very large pot, add all the pork pieces. Add the apple cider vinegar and then enough water to cover the pig parts. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer the pork pieces for 3 hours. At this point in time, the meat should be falling off the bones.
Drain the pig parts in a large colander. Reserve 2 cup of the pork stock – this will be used later on. Carefully pick trough the pig parts removing any bone or gristle or still hard cartilage. Don’t be afraid to used any of the un-rendered fat as well. This will improve the texture of the souse, and, of course, make it a lot richer. The only cartilage I used in my version was the pigs ears, which were soft and tender after 3 hours of simmering. Take the meat and fat you pick out and finely chop it up and place in a bowl.
Season the chopped pig with the salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes, mixing all together throughly.
Take your 2 cups of reserved pork stock and heat in a saucepan over medium heat. At this time, you may add the envelope of unflavored gelatin to the stock. If you used a lot of bone in your selection of pork meat, this will not be necessary, but if you were short on bone and cartilage, you will definitely need it. If in doubt, use the gelatin.
In a buttered terrine dish, add the chopped, seasoned pig parts, pressing down to make sure the meat is tightly packed. Begin adding the pork stock, allowing the stock to seep into the pork pieces. Use as much of the stock as necessary to ensure the pork pieces are thoroughly coated in the stock.
Place a piece of plastic wrap over the terrine, and using a weight of some sort, weigh down the top of the terrine, to make sure the finished product is tightly packed. Place the terrine in the refrigerator and allow to set up – about 2 hours, at least.
When the souse is set up, remove it from the terrine, and cut into slices to serve. DO NOT try to heat the souse up – it will disintegrate into a mess!
ckentmills / TASTE 