Tête de Veau à l’Anglaise

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •16-quart heavy stockpot with lid
• •Large nonreactive basin
• •Food-safe cheesecloth large enough to wrap the half head
• •Parchment paper for a cartouche
• •Heavy saucepan for the bacon
• •Small saucepan for warming the sauce
• •Large oval platter and clean unscented white cotton napkin
• •Sauceboat
• •Long skewer and sturdy kitchen tongs

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the head

   Ask the butcher to split the calf’s head lengthwise but leave the bones in place, exactly as this variation requires. At home, rinse the half carefully under cold running water, paying attention to the cut surface and cavities, then soak it in a nonreactive basin of very cold water for 30 minutes, changing the water once. Keep the basin cold throughout. Drain and inspect the cut bones for loose fragments before cooking.

   Do not buy a boned and rolled head for this recipe. It can make a fine tête de veau, but à l’anglaise is presented in unboned halves; the form is part of the preparation.
2. 2

   Make the blanc

   In a 16-quart heavy stockpot, whisk the flour with about 2 cups of the cold water until perfectly smooth. Whisk in the remaining water, salt, carrots, onion, lemon juice and squeezed shells, and bouquet garni. Bring the blanc slowly to a bare simmer, whisking across the pot floor until the flour is fully dispersed. If you see lumps, strain the blanc before the head goes in. Ça se rattrape, and straining now is easier than fishing flour from around a calf’s ear later. Wrap the head loosely in food-safe cheesecloth to make a lifting sling, then lower it carefully into the blanc. The liquid should cover it by about 1 inch. Set a parchment cartouche directly on the liquid and keep the pot partially covered.

3. 3

   Poach without boiling

   Hold the blanc between 185 and 195°F (85 and 90°C), where an occasional bubble rises but the surface never rolls. Skim away grey scum as it gathers during the first 30 minutes, taking care not to remove the flour suspension itself. Cook for 2½ to 3 hours, turning the wrapped head once, until a skewer passes through the thick cheek without resistance and the skin feels tender rather than rubbery. Watch the level and add a little hot water if the head begins to emerge. If the pot reaches a hard boil, lift it off the heat and add a cup of cold water before returning it to the lowest burner. The skin may tighten slightly, but the dish is not lost. Ça se rattrape. If flour catches on the bottom, do not scrape it up; transfer the head and unburnt liquid to a clean pot and continue at gentler heat.

   Time is only a guide here. Tenderness is the test: the cheek should yield to a skewer, while the skin remains whole enough to carry to the platter.
4. 4

   Boil the bacon

   During the final 75 minutes, put the slab bacon in a separate saucepan and cover it with the measured cold water. Bring it slowly to a bare simmer and cook for 60 to 75 minutes, until a skewer enters easily but the piece still holds its shape. Taste the water after 10 minutes; if it is fiercely salty, drain the bacon, cover it with fresh hot water, and continue. This removes excess cure without taking away the bacon’s proper savour.

5. 5

   Ready the service

   Scald a clean, unscented white cotton napkin with boiling water, wring it dry, fold it thickly, and lay it on a warmed oval platter. Refresh the parsley sprays in ice water for 10 minutes, then dry them thoroughly so they remain very green. Warm the finished Parsley Sauce (No. 119a) gently according to its own entry and pour it into a heated sauceboat. Do not let the sauce boil while it waits. If butter begins to bead around its edge, take it off the heat and whisk in a spoonful of cold water until it comes together again.

6. 6

   Drain and dish

   Lift the calf’s head by its cheesecloth sling and let it drain over the pot for 5 minutes. Remove the cloth carefully and set the half on the napkin, outer side uppermost, keeping its shape intact. Drain the bacon and place it beside the head as one generous piece. Arrange the very green parsley sprays around both, with no further decoration. Carry the platter and sauceboat to the table together. Carve the tender cheek, skin, and any tongue portion supplied into thick servings, remembering that the bones remain because this is à l’anglaise. Spoon the sauce generously over each portion and serve slices of boiled bacon alongside. Cooking well is not cooking fancy. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Order the head well ahead from a butcher who handles veal offal. Ask for one lengthwise half, unboned, fully dehaired, and cleaned with the eye and brain removed. A rolled head is easier to find, but it changes the book’s preparation and presentation.
• •Use unsmoked slab bacon, sometimes sold as green bacon or uncooked cured pork belly. Smoke would dominate the delicate calf’s head and pull the dish away from its plain à l’anglaise character.
• •Choose the narrowest deep pot that holds the head safely. Six quarts of blanc should cover it; if your pot demands much more liquid, the vessel is too broad and will dilute the protective flour and lemon unnecessarily.
• •The napkin is practical, not theater. It catches the cooking liquor that continues to leave the head and keeps the platter from becoming watery. Use only clean, unscented cotton, never fabric carrying perfume from detergent or softener.
• •Serve with boiled floury potatoes if the table needs something more, but keep them on a separate dish. A brisk dry white wine or a light, cool Gamay cuts through the gelatin and butter without bullying them.

Advance Preparation

• •The butcher preparation is the real advance work. Arrange the cleaned, split, unboned half head before the day you cook, then keep it very cold and use it within the butcher’s stated holding time.
• •The carrots, onion, lemons, and bouquet garni can be prepared earlier the same day and held covered in the refrigerator.
• •The head may be poached one day ahead if necessary. Lift it from the blanc, cool it promptly, strain the liquid into shallow containers, and refrigerate both within 2 hours. Reheat the head submerged in the blanc at a bare simmer until thoroughly hot, never at a boil.
• •Prepare the Parsley Sauce close to serving according to its own entry. The finished sauce can wait briefly over very gentle heat, but prolonged holding dulls the parsley and risks separating the butter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 450g)