Pork head aspic with herbs

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 550 g pork head (pork head meat), cured and cooked
• 100 g pickled gherkins, diced
• 350 g water
• 5 g curing salt
• 3 g black pepper, ground
• 1 g coriander powder
• 1 g nutmeg
• 3 g mustard seeds
• 2 g ascorbic acid, vitamin C
• 75 g vinegar 5% acid
• 5 g herbs (salad topping, wild garlic)
• 52 g aspic powder (200 bloom)

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest period approx. 1 day; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 1 day 3 hours

Cure the pig’s heads for 2 days with 44g of curing salt per liter of water. The brine to meat ratio should be 1:1 (1kg head + 1 liter brine). Remove the pig’s heads from the brine. Bring the brine to the boil, skim off the protein foam that forms and boil the heads in it for 90-95 minutes. Then bone them out and place them sorted in a ham dish, press them as hard as possible and leave to cool. Tip: Remove the pig’s masks before cooking and add them to the cooking water later so that they only cook for 35 minutes and don’t get so mushy. The next day, use a food slicer to cut the pig’s head meat into 10mm slices and then into 10mm strips and then dice these into 10mm cubes with a knife. Dice the gherkins into 10mm cubes and rinse them in hot water to bind them. For the aspic mixture: Add half the amount of cold water to the aspic powder and let it swell for 10 minutes. Add the vinegar, curing salt, herb mix, and spices and allow to dissolve. Then add the remaining hot water and mix well. To prepare, briefly toss the pork head cubes in hot water, then mix with the seasoned aspic infusion (40-50°C) and the cucumber cubes. Fill into sterile casings or molds and allow to cool.