Brawn Recipe

Origin: Britain      Period: Traditional

Whenever we slaughtered a pig, my grandmother always got the head to make brawn with it. Basically it's a jellied dish of all the meat extracted from a pig's head after boiling. Unfortunately I was never able to get my grandmother's recipe for this and for many years I've been trying to find a way to re-create the recipe. After talking to a local butcher and trying a few experiments I've now produced a dish that gets near to my grandmother's original whilst adding a few twists from my own travels.

Ingredients:

For the Brine:
3l water
1kg salt

For the Brawn:
1 pig's head, ears removed and quartered
4 pigs' trotters
1 pig's tail
1 pork belly (optional, add if you want more meat)
2 large carrots, roughly chopped
1/2 bulb fennel, roughly chopped
1 large sprig of thyme
1 sprig of sage, chopped
4 bay leaves
3 cloves
6 allspice berries
6 banana shallots, finely chopped
juice of 1 lemon
2 chillies, halved (optional)
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Brawn Preparation:

Method:

Remove the ears from the pig's head (reserve these) then use a blowtorch to burn away any hairs (take special care around the snout) then cut the head into four pieces.

Combine the salt and water in a large pan and simmer until the salt dissolves. Set aside until completely cold then add the pork head to it, cover and set aside to soak for 24 hours.

The following day, drain the pork pieces and transfer to a large stock pot. Cover with cold water then add the ears, trotters, tail and belly (if using). Now add the vegetables, herbs and spices (but not the shallots and lemon juice). Season to taste with salt and freshly-ground black pepper then bring the mixture slowly to a boil. Every now and then skim off and remove any scum that floats to the surface. When the mixture is simmering partially cover then allow to simmer for a further four hours, topping up with water as needed. Continue cooking until the meat begins to fall off the bone.

Turn off the hat and allow the meat mixture to cool a little. Remove the head and trotters from the pan and remove the skin. Strip off any meat and roughly chop. With the tongue, remove the coarse outer layer of skin then chop and add to the mix. Also chop the ears and add to the meat mixture (discard the tail).

Combine the chopped shallots with the meat and stir-in the lemon juice then set aside. Meanwhile, strain the stock and discard the vegetables and spices. Transfer the meat to a terrine dish that's been lined with clingfilm (plastic wrap) then ladle just enough of the stock over the top to moisten the mixture. (Personally I like to add two halved chillies to the bottom of the terrine and then add the meat on top, but this is in now way traditional!)

When the meat is just sitting in the stock cover with clingfilm then place a weight on the top and transfer to a refrigerator and chill over night, until set.

Serve sliced with pickle, English mustard and crusty bread. Brawn will also freeze well, but must be defrosted in the refrigerator otherwise the jelly will melt rather than defrosting.

Read: Recipe Articles and Reviews

More British recipes...

More European recipes...

More main course recipes...

More Traditional recipes...

More recipes for Meat...

More recipes using Chillies...

More recipes for Pork...

Are any of the terms used here unfamiliar, do you want to translate from British to American cookery terms? If so then this Glossary of US and UK Cookery Terms will help you.

Need to convert any units on this site?

As a guide 1 US cup of flour = 4 1/2 oz = 140g (this applies to breadcrumbs, ground almonds etc
1 US cup of butter/margarine or sugar = 7 oz = 200g

For temperature conversions (Celsius, gas mark, Farenheit) go to the Temperature conversion page.
For mass conversions (grammes, cups, spoons, ounces etc) go to the Mass/Weight conversion page.
For temperature conversions (litres, cups, spoons, fluid ounces etc) go to the Volume conversion page.
You can also see more cookery terms and meanings as well as ingredient descriptions at the Cooks' glossary