Souse [sows] n. Variety of and term for head cheese in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect.
Souse is a variety of head cheese, usually specific to the Pennsylvania Dutch. They make their head cheese from the pickled meat of often otherwise unused animal parts (usually pork). These often include the feet, head, tongue, and heart.
The word itself probably comes from the Germanic souce, or pickling juice, which is related to sulza, or brine.
Do you eat head cheese? We are always in favor of treating meat with respect, and this includes using the not-as-fashionable parts of the animal. Here's a recipe, just in case you are interested in making your own.
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Comments (11)
As my family is German, and I live in a very German town (Cincinnati), I've had head cheese. It's one of those things my grandmother would buy every couple of months (alternating with the months she bought limburger to eat with onions and mustard on rye bread, or pickled herring, or pig's feet, or braunschweiger,or a few other things that I can't remember but I'm sure my young self thought were disgusting. I've grown to love braunschweiger!). She had it cut very thin, and I remember her piling this translucent, pinkish, nearly gelatinous substance on her bread and eating it with relish. With the advent of the mega-mart replacing the local butcher, I'm finding it harder and harder to find a lot of the things I grew up watching her eat outside of specialty stores or http://www.findlaymarket.org/. I'll be on the lookout next weekend when I go to Findlay!
I'm also from an area with a lot of Germans (near Madison Wisconsin(, and I purchase this for my grandmother. However, it is called sulze here, and it is sold along side of head cheese, which does not have the pimentos added to it.
And, no. I do not eat it.
Gross.
er, it's also quite common in the south. at least among the old school. it can be had from any proper butcher. my uncle makes sure there's a plate of it at every pig-pickin' we've ever had. (pig-pickin' = bbq) i think the family has even made it on occasion (in the distant past).
My granny loved this and other revolting meat things.
My grandma is Mongolian and we love it in our house. I believe the Russians also eat it. Anyone know where to find it in New York?
Whenever I read/hear "head cheese" my mind always races back to the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", where the crazy yokel in the van says "My brother makes head cheese, you'll like it!"
That one 20-second scene has turned me off to head cheese ever since.
Yeah, maybe if more people called it Souse it'd be more popular. "Head cheese" sounds about as appealing as "toe jam" to me!
And does anyone else remember "Hallelujah the welcome table" where Maya Angelou gives her family recipe for souse. ("Hogs head cheese" according to Rosa Guy, whose own dish Maya calls "pig's feet"). Deffo on my own "must try" list when I ever head south (and page 165 in the UK edition - both recipes given).
I used to love this as a child when I went down south to visit family. Then I found out what I was eating and have not touched it since.....
My Dad's family is from Pennsylvania and he grew up eating Souse. I remember my grandmother always having some on hand when we came for visits so my Dad could get his fix. I never touched it.