Below is the recipe we ended up with.Ī 16 quart pot is *just* big enough. I was amused to find that we own *at least four* cookbooks with variations on this dish.
When making the testa, we relied primarily on the recipe from Paul Bertolli's Cooking by Hand, but we also referenced Charcuterie, The Whole Beast and The Babbo Cookbook. Here is a slice that has been warmed on a plate until the gelatin melts into a rich, sticky sauce: The result - a beautifully marbled slab of porcine goodness. We stirred the gel in this photo so it looks a bit soft set, but you can see it's solid toward the left.įinally, the meat goes into a mold with enough spicy gelatin broth to just cover and the whole thing gets chilled overnight. If there's enough gelatin it should set up quickly and spring back when pressed.
NEVER ENOUGH THYME EGGS IN PURGATORY SKIN
An Italian grandmother offering a few pointers would've been appreciated.īut, after peeling the skin off the tongues and chopping everything into irregular pieces we were rewarded with a brimming bowl of yummy, sticky, bite-sized pork morsels.īefore molding the testa, scoop some broth onto a plate and chill it. Sorting through the cooked meats for the "edible" pieces was a bit of a challenge (since neither of us is very familiar with knuckle, snout or ear) and we may have discarded some true treasures. We found that it's a lot like making a big pot of turkey soup, just slightly different ingredients. Black peppercorns and plenty of salt round out the mix.Įverything gets simmered in a very large stockpot until the meats are tender and literally falling off the bone.
Carrot, celery and onion are all standard additions to almost any stock or stew.
NEVER ENOUGH THYME EGGS IN PURGATORY PLUS
Our version of testa is spiced with the sweet and aromatic flavors of cinnamon, cloves, coriander, allspice and nutmeg plus the deep flavored herbs thyme, bay and parsley. None of our recipe references commented on the brain, so we were wary and discarded it. If you are brave, you can click on the image below to see the head we used.Īs you can see (if you peeked), we used a half a pig's head, split down the middle. You can use powdered gelatin instead, but using the real thing adds flavor to the mix, in addition to structure.Ī few pork tongues for extra meatiness (optional, but an easy addition).Īnd of course testa just couldn't be testa (Italian for "head") without a nice pig's head to provide loads of silky pork texture and flavor. If you can obtain the ingredients, it's surprisingly simple to make.įirst you need pig's feet (trotters) to contribute sufficient gelatin to the stock. Thinly sliced, you can eat it cold with crusty bread or warmed to release the gelatin broth's saucy goodness. It is a sort of sausage-meets-terrine made of cooked pork pieces and spiced broth set into a firm gelatin mold. The Italian version of head cheese, testa is truly fantastic stuff. The dish we made with our goodies from Northgate Market is Coppa di Testa.
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