Boar's Head To Dress Whole Recipe

When the head is cut off, the neck part must be boned, and the tongue

taken out. The brains also must be taken out on the inside, so as not to

break the bone and skin on the outside. When boned, singe the hair off,

and clean it; then put it for four or five days into a red pickle made

of saltpetre, bay salt, common salt, and coarse brown sugar, rubbing the

pickle in every day. When taken out of the pickle, lay the tongue in the

centre of the neck or collar; close the meat together as close as you

can, and bind it with strong tape up to the ears, the same as you would

do brawn; then put it into a pot or kettle, the neck downward, and fill

the pot with good broth and Rhenish wine, in the proportion of one

bottle of wine to three pints of broth, till it is covered a little

above the ears. Season the wine and broth with small bunches of

sweet-herbs, such as basil, winter savory, and marjoram, bay-leaves,

shalots, celery, carrots, turnips, parsley-roots, with different kinds

of spices. Set it over the fire to boil; when it boils, put it on one

side to boil gently, till the head is tender. Take it out of the liquor,

and put it into an earthen pan; skim all the fat off the liquor; strain

it through a sieve into the head; put it by until it is quite cold, and

then it will be fit for use.