head cheese

thesaraheffect I am suddenly vividly recalling my horror when first I encountered this frightening practice in "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. They boiled the head (of a pig??) collected everything that "came off" and formed it into a loaf.

The "congealing" process which is so disgusting in the process of making head cheese comes from, I believe, its effect on the collagen found in the animals head. To be perfectly honest any food made with gelatin, which is similarly extracted from animal skin, bones, and connective tissue, ought to be as off-putting. But, somehow Bill Cosby makes everything okay.

My overpowering love for eggs and cheese (as well as the lovely smell of my leather jacket) is the only thing protecting me from a vegan lifestyle. Sep 16, 2009

madmouth Some things oughtn't to be in gelatin, and 'bits of meat from the head' is pretty high on the list.

Kudos for unearthing the original meaning of 'cheese'. Apr 14, 2009

catkisses My husband ate this stuff while living in Chile. Sep 11, 2008

asativum Sviðasulta in Icelandic, apparently. Jul 4, 2008

misterpolly I think it sounds offal! Jan 7, 2008

chained_bear No, you probably know "obrigado," right? That's Portuguese.

And now we are at the sum total of my knowledge of that language. Nov 1, 2007

skipvia Well, c_b, I did. So far that's the only Portuguese I know.

It looks like I screwed up a link once again. This is embarrassing for a web designer. I'll go edit it right now... Nov 1, 2007

chained_bear Actually, skipvia, I'm probably one of those freaks who wouldn't mind knowing a little more about it--if only to be more fun at parties--but the link to the Wiki article says "nobody's added Queijo de Porco... Why don't you?"

Well... why don't you? ;)

Maybe this was the article you were talking about...?

Whoa. Don't forget potted heid and presskopf. Yikes! Nov 1, 2007

reesetee I think I already know more than I really wanted to know, skipvia--but thanks. ;-) Oct 31, 2007

skipvia I think reesetee and c_b are right. That would explain why the term "head cheese" translates so literally among various languages. Besides French (fromage de tête), there's "queso de cabeza," "queso de chancho," and queso de puerco" (Spanish), "hoofdkaas" (Dutch), and "Queijo de Porco" (Portuguese). This Wikipedia article tells you more than you probably really want to know about the substance.

EDIT: Thanks to Chained_Bear, this is the correct WikiPedia link. Oct 31, 2007

reesetee Easy, uselessness. It is intentional misdirection. Think about it. Why would you eat something called "bits of meat from the head of a cow or pig, cooked in gelatin and served as a luncheon meat" when you can have "head cheese"?

*gag*

Seriously, though--I think one of the original meanings of "cheese" referred more to the process of making the product rather than its specific contents. There was fruit cheese, nut cheese, etc. Now we use the word to refer almost exclusively to tasty versions of congealed dairy products.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to hurl. Oct 31, 2007

uselessness Wait, I thought cheese was made of milk? Come to think of it, I have no idea what cheese is, except for the decidedly non-specific "dairy." Maybe that should concern me. But I eat the stuff every day, and rather like it. Oct 31, 2007

chained_bear Well, think about what cheese is, and how it's made. It's congealed animal fat and protein. Doesn't head cheese make more sense now?

*wonders why cheese is so good if it sounds so barfy* Oct 31, 2007

uselessness That's disgusting. But why do they call it "cheese?" There's nothing cheesy about it. I hate when names of things are obviously wrong like that, it seems like intentional misdirection. Oct 31, 2007

reesetee Yep, that's it. *gag* Oct 31, 2007

skipvia Bits of meat from the head of a cow or pig, cooked in gelatin and served as a luncheon meat. Known in the South as souse. The French name--fromage de tête--sounds almost appetizing, unless you speak French. Oct 31, 2007