Musseau de porc

[voyager]

One of my regular bistro orders is this salad of sliced pork muzzle in vinaigrette.    Looking for a recipe, I found this this that assumes you already HAVE some cooked musseau.    Do any of you intrepid cooks make this, can direct me what cut to buy (whole pig head?) and your method for cooking the meat?    

[Orik]

180F sous vide for 24+ hours. Salt 1%, instacure #1 (0.1% - 0.25%) if you want, spices. 

We get half heads from the farm. I think you should be able to get snouts in Chinese meat markets but you know... 

p.s. look for the glands if using whole heads (there should be 3 of them in each half head) and remove them before cooking. 

[joethefoodie]

34 minutes ago, Orik said:

I think you should be able to get snouts in Chinese meat markets but you know... 

I definitely see these in the markets I go into here...I think even at Luis's...but that's here...

 

[Sneakeater]

This is of no relevance whatsoever, but I get pickled pork snouts from the Pennsylvania Dutch country.  They are delicious.  They are beyond delicious.

Once my super saw a jar of them on my counter as he was doing some work on my kitchen.  "You EAT those?" he asked.

[voyager]

33 minutes ago, Sneakeater said:

This is of no relevance whatsoever, but I get pickled pork snouts from the Pennsylvania Dutch country.  They are delicious.  They are beyond delicious.

Once my super saw a jar of them on my counter as he was doing some work on my kitchen.  "You EAT those?" he asked.

Maybe this awakens a food memory for me.    I used to eat jarred pickled pigs feet with my father when I was a toddler, and my mother had the same reaction as your super.   And, yes, it is absolutely delicious.     (Knowing our usual guest list) I would serve this dish as a dinner party starter, (but husband is in same camp as Mom and your super.)

[voyager]

@Orik   Forgive the stupid question, but how do I identify the glands in the head?    Encased in a skin?   Spongy protuberances?   

I'm actually a pretty good home butcher but better at breaking down carcass than innards.   

[Sneakeater]

I was ashamed to ask that.

[Orik]

What you'll actually see depends on the butchery but this gives you a good idea of where to look. Note they're a different color and surrounded by a different kind of fat. It's much easier to find them with a half head than a whole one (or a whole butt). 

Alternatively, if you have a surgeon in the family, they should be able to get it done very effectively as the glands are in the exact same places as in a human skull. 

 

[voyager]

Thanks for this brilliant tutorial.   And thanks for this website.    Lots of good advice without ego or fluff.

[voyager]

I just realized the problem of yield.    It's my sense that one snout, much less half a snout, wouldn't yield enough meat for, say, 8 appetizer portions.  And dealing with enough heads would be an effort.   I'll check to see if any of my several neighborhood Chinese butchers sell head parts.    And maybe some Latino markets in the Mission.   (Husband often asks, on these expeditions, "Tell me again what we're after'"   And i answer something like "Pig snouts"' and he just nods his head, like, "Riiiiight".)

Wish you guys live close by.   I'd host a pig-heads breakdown party and we could each take home a useful quantity.

[Orik]

That's correct. You'll have guanciale, cheek meat, ear, very gelatinous stock for your terrine, etc. and only half a snout

[Wilfrid]

Because I am thinking a lot about Nick Gatti, let me recall a Mouthfuls gathering at dba. He showed up late but with a bag. The contents of the bag he deposited on a table.

It was an entire pig’s head.

”Wilf, you know about this stuff, carve it up,” he said.

And handed me a white, plastic picnic knife. The head did scud onto the floor at one point.

[joethefoodie]

6 minutes ago, Wilfrid said:

Because I am thinking a lot about Nick Gatti, let me recall a Mouthfuls gathering at dba. He showed up late but with a bag. The contents of the bag he deposited on a table.

It was an entire pig’s head.

”Wilf, you know about this stuff, carve it up,” he said.

And handed me a white, plastic picnic knife. The head did scud onto the floor at one point.

I'm trying to remember the "tables" at dba?  Outside in the backyard? 

I guess I only deposited myself at the bar...I mean, this is 20 - 25 years ago at this point. Significant Eater actually worked there on Friday nights - we drank for free!!!

[StephanieL]

There were tables inside the bar.

[voyager]

When I first posted about this, I KNEW I talking to real Pig Heads!    A lot of knowledge and experience here.