Hi All,
I’m buying half a pig. The farmer has written the following:
Some hints:
Please don’t forget… you can ask for the following:
LEAF LARD, fatback, the head, the feet as hocks and trotters, etc.
I will definitely ask for the leaf lard and fatback. What about the head and feet? (They will also smoke the hocks if desired.) I’ve only seen hocks used for soup.
Should I get these and if so, what do I do with them?
IDK what fatback is and I didn’t get leaf lard with my piglet… It’s cool though. I just saw it in videos and in traditional recipes but it must be cool…
Head is valuable, it has the brain (with insane cholesterol content :D) and very delicious meat that goes to head cheese, among others. I would just eat it, not bothering with head cheese. But good quality meat head cheese is one of the best things if you ask me…
Oh the head has the tongue as well, maybe my fav part in a pig!
Hocks are for aspic, most supermarkets sell them now here as it’s aspic season and very many people makes it now. My SO’s Mom always makes A LOT, I never made any. It’s nice but not nice enough to work with it and do anything with hocks. It’s not as off-putting as chicken feet (many Hungarians LOVE that too, I can’t imagine why :D) but it lacks meat so not my food item for sure! But if I get some aspic with skin and lots of extra meat in it, that’s wonderful…
I forgot about the tongue! I have been using those too, usually with cow tongue also.
I’ll have to look into aspic. I’ve never made that before.
I’ll probably get everything then, and I’ll have to see what I can do with it.
The brains can be used to make head cheese. Don’t ask me for a recipe, however; I only know this from the pig-butchering scene in Little House in the Big Woods.
There are a number of recipes for pig’s feet, including (if I’m not mistaken) osso bucco.
Hams are from the hock, so you can either salt-cure it, or else simply eat it fresh. Then use the bone and some fatback to make pea soup.
The Joy of Cooking will likely have some useful recipes. There also is, or used to be, a good cookbook called The European Cookery Book. Don’t know if it can be found in the U.S., however.
I have The Joy of Cooking, I will look at that.
I found this that uses the pork head:
If I try it, I’ll let everyone know. I won’t have the actual pig until early 2023, and I’ll be the only one eating this anyway!
Head cheese can be wonderful but I ate not so great ones too. One shouldn’t be shy with the meat, of course (not just meat from the head can go into it. indeed, as your linked recipe says, heart is good, I saw kidney but normal muscle meat as well) - or maybe not of course, some people loves aspic without meat too while I only like meat-heavy ones.
(And my kind of head cheese is red from paprika, I consider the ones without it highly inferior but I never saw such things in Hungary. The aspic is good so it must be okay without paprika but head cheese isn’t just some aspic with lots of skin and meat!)
Well, you know that I like paprika, so that’s an option. 
I’ll be the only one eating it, so I can make it how I like.
Though I usually follow a recipe exactly the first time.
It’s fine,just put in the good meat and it surely will be tasty.
I wonder if the pig farm nearby will have piglets for Christmas again (it’s traditionally for the last day of the year but they gave them away earlier. they talked about marinading but I don’t overcomplicate things, we just roasted it and it was great).
I already like supermarket pork but a nice farm or home-raised one? That is another level.
I’m getting a pig because the supermarket stuff can be nasty. We had pork chops where the fat – there was something wrong with it. In fact, I’ve been wanting to try a higher fat, lower protein test, where you eat fat first then lean protein. But suet upsets my stomach, and I can’t handle pork fat.
Maybe I’ll be able to use this pork fat? I’m not sure.
A Turkish friend used to make a bean salad with brains. It was okay.
We used to have to eat pork hocks as children. Totally gross.
The head, probably too much trouble.
So I’d leave all those for someone who appreciates them and knows what to do with them.
I’ve had beef tongue, which was fine. Maybe pork tongue is good too.
Pork hock is great, it’s good and very popular meat, our traditional aspic uses the part below that (and lots of extra skin too, there are packages like that), little meat there. Or IDK, never took a good look and the lower we go, the worse it is. But aspic needs the skin…
My SO and me prefers pork tongue over beef but I consider both very, very good. He strongly prefers pork, I feel little difference.
I’d get the hocks for soup making, delicious stuff. The head is too much to bother with to make edible. Leave that for someone who likes cooking South American dishes, almost all those countries have something from the head. Even head cheese isn’t worth the effort. I like all kinds of organs, but never liked brains. Even my Great Aunt Mary couldn’t find a way to make me eat them. And she is the best cook I have ever known and I know several well trained chefs.