Kocsonya (Pork Brawn)
This is often eaten on Christmas Eve or on the first morning of the new year
Ingredients:
4 pork trotters and/or knuckle
some pork cheek
250 g pork rind
250 g carrots
some parsley stalks
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
15 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
salt to taste
Preparation:
Put the trotters, knuckle, cheek and rind into a large saucepan, together with the carrots and parsley. Cover with water. Add the onion and the garlic cloves whole, and the peppercorns, salt and bay leaf. Cook for a long time over a slow heat until the meat falls away from the bones and the gelatine dissolves. Skim off the fat which will have gathered at the top. First pass the remainder of the liquid through a strainer, and then filter it again through a muslin cloth. Retain this liquid.
Cut up the meat into small pieces, and, if you like, you can add some of the vegetables, also chopped up. Distribute the meat and vegetables into soup plates, bowls or suitable moulds and pour enough liquid into each bowl to cover the meat and vegetables. Leave these to cool and then put them in a very cold refrigerator, so that the liquid sets into a jelly. Serve with lemon juice or wine vinegar, and creamed horse-radish and apple puree (see below).
