A couple of years ago, I hosted an Aubrey/Maturin themed dinner for my friends.
Menu (fancy version here):
[ul]
[li]Kickshaws[/li][li]Strasbourg Pie[/li][li]Syllabub[/li][li]Spotted Dog with Custard Sauce[/li][li]Lots and lots of port and claret and madeira[/li][/ul]
I’ve since made spotted dog several times and it is truly magnificent. If the idea of suet in a pudding puts you off, Get Over It! It’s incredible. Just the smell is heavenly. I’ve also made Lobscouse a couple of times and it’s pretty good.
Anyhoo. My friends have been bugging me to make Soused Hog’s Face and I plan to do it for our next camping trip pot luck. I have some problems interpreting the recipe though and y’all were such a help last time around, I thought I’d enlist you as under-stewards again.
I’m looking at the recipe in the standard text for Aubrey/Maturin recipes, Lobscouce and Spotted Dog, and the impression I get is that all the meat is removed from the pig’s head and served cold.
That’s fine, I guess - and probably quite delicious - but the image in my mind from the books has a big, steam pig’s head on a platter that they take turns to carve off bits of cheek. A platter of cold cuts labelled "Soused Hog’s Face’ wouldn’t be nearly so dramatic.
Has anyone ever tried this dish? Should I serve it cold? Sounds sad.
Will I have trouble acquiring the raw pig’s head? We have a pretty good butcher nearby and I plan to ask him to get me one. I’ll souse it myself.