What is Head Cheese?

Series Summary

Head cheese, or brawn as it is sometimes called, is not a type of cheese. It is actually a cold pressed meat dish, usually consisting of pork and a combination of vegetables and spices. While technically the meat is taken from the head of a pig, it may also include the feet and heart. Head cheese is eaten cold or at room temperature, often sliced as luncheon meat.

In this series of free videos you'll learn how to make Cajun recipe head cheese. Expert Karl James demonstrates the process in easy to follow, step-by-step instructions, including how to process the pork, how to cut and add celery, onion and garlic, how to mix together seasoning, when to add vinegar and how to serve the dish.

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Karl James owner of Creolesoul Catering located in Round Rock, Texas and on behalf of Expert Village I'm here to show you how to make hog head cheese. Head cheese, well first of all it's not cheese at all, it's actually made from heads of let's say a cow or a calf, a sheep, or a pig, hog and it's basically a triune of meat that's gelled and it's eaten hot spice wise, but it's eaten cold like luncheon meat. Head cheese, they have versions of it all over the world. You can find it in France, you can find it in the UK, Brazil, Kerasia, Serbia and all around the United States. In Louisiana or the south the version is different slightly than the version of that let's say that's done by the Pennsylvania Germans, they do a version of it and so do the people in Utah. Anyway, head cheese let's take a look at it."