How can I find my old pictures?

[WitchHazel]

I've never eaten brawn.

 

DH and I are buying half a pig and are doing a butchery course (with said half pig). We've decided we'll have a go at brawn - out of respect for the animals, I'm trying to get over my irrational fear of more unusual parts.

 

I've read a couple of recipes for it. Just wondered if anyone had eaten it? Or made it?

[Olly]

Never made it, but I have eaten it, quite tasty as I recall. Just look at it this way - at least you know what's in it. Most people eating faggots, cheap sausages, frankfurters, pork pie etc are eating some far more horrible bits of pig without even realising it!

[WitchHazel]

Just look at it this way - at least you know what's in it.

That was our thought, exactly. Plus, we know the condition the porkers are raised in, so if I'm going ot try and eat something I'd normally be squeamish about, this seems to be the best way to do it.

[Lesley]

I've made it once but struggled after thinking about the contents of the pig's ear........sorry I just use the chaps now for ourselves and cut off any other bits for the dogs.

[WitchHazel]

I've made it once but struggled after thinking about the contents of the pig's ear........sorry

Thanks Lesley. I've cooked with ox cheeks before and they were surprisingly good, so I imagine that the chaps from a pig would be equally good. I'll try that next time (assuming there will be a next time, as we haven't even done a "this time" yet!).

 

I'm intrigued - were you just thinking about ear contents in general, like earwax, or was there something specific?

 

Hugh doesn't use the ears in his brawn recipe, he deep fries them and eats them.

 

I'm surprised at how common a recipe "brawn" is. I looked it up in my Constance Spry book originally, because it's a much older book and has recipes for all sorts of things. I guessed that Hugh would have a recipe (no surprise there!). BUt I even found it in my Good Housekeeping cookery book, and that's only ("only!") about 25 years old.

[Lesley]

I'm intrigued - were you just thinking about ear contents in general, like earwax, or was there something specific?

 

Yes, just the earwax and dirt - I know it would probably have been cleaned away when the de-hairing is carried out in boiling water......but I can't get the thought out of my head

[WitchHazel]

Yes, just the earwax and dirt - I know it would probably have been cleaned away when the de-hairing is carried out in boiling water......but I can't get the thought out of my head

 

Tee hee.

 

I'll try not to think too much about it when we're making the brawn. Or, more specifically, when we're eating the brawn.

[missuscluck]

We have pigs and although its wasteful not to use the head I cant bring myself to do it. My Mum used to make it for my Dad and the whole 'Head in a Pan' thing brings it all back

It seems a long winded excersise for something I would not eat. My husband probably would but I dont think the kids would touch it. All things considered I will give it a miss.

 

Good luck, if you try it and let us know if its nice to eat or not.

[Lesley]

I still feel I'm letting the pig down - but the dogs don't mind

 

We do cook the trotters down to make the jelly for Carl's famous Pork Pie! - and I use the meat off those and some of the jelly to make 'brawn' though, I don't know if it's still brawn if you use trotter meat?

[WitchHazel]

t I dont think the kids would touch it..

 

I guess it depends on whether they know what's in it when they try it.

 

If I didn't know what was in brawn, I would probably have tried it already. I don't eat offal normally, but I used to eat haslet when I had sandwiches for school. I didn't know what it contained. so I wasn't put off by that knowledge. The nature of it, of course, means that even when you're eating it, you don't realise what it is (unless you already know, in which case one can tell).

 

As part of my attempt to get over my lifetime hatred/phobia of various foods - which is going well on the whole - I'm still completely unable to eat big* liver or kidney. I can't even eat kidney chopped small in pies or puddings. (*I mean a piece of liver, even in strips. Doesn't matter how seasoned it is, the texture and smell gets to me the moment I bite). However, I can eat chicken liver as pate, and I've got fried chicken livers on my "to do" list, so I haven't completely given up tgrying to overcome it.

 

I'm trying very hard to re-educate myself that there is no logical difference between eating one part of an animal and eating another part. For example, some years ago - before it became more popular - I bought, cooked and ate ox cheeks. During the preparation and cooking phase, I was soooo unconvinced that it was going to be edible, the texture looked more like liver than beef. But it was fantastic. Really, really, good. Successes like that give me the incentive/motivation to carry on.

 

I still feel I'm letting the pig down - but the dogs don't mind

 

We do cook the trotters down to make the jelly for Carl's famous Pork Pie! - and I use the meat off those and some of the jelly to make 'brawn' though, I don't know if it's still brawn if you use trotter meat?

 

I don't think you're letting the pigs down. You might be if you were throwing it away, but giving it to the dogs seems fair enough.

[ClaireG]

My parents used to have a pig farm and pick your own with a small shop. Mum used to make quiches that she sold and also cured her own bacon and made brawn. I love it