Mock Turtle

Ingredients

• 0.5 calf's head
• 0.25 lb butter
• 0.25 lb lean ham
• 2 tbsp minced parsley
• minced lemon thyme
• sweet marjoram
• basil
• 2 onions
• chopped mushrooms
• 2 shallots
• 2 tbsp flour
• 0.25 bottle Madeira or sherry
• force-meat balls
• cayenne
• salt
• mace
• 1 lemon juice
• 1 Seville orange juice
• 1 tsp pounded sugar
• 3 quarts best stock

Method

Start with the calf's head whole and skin on. Scald it briefly — submerge in boiling water for a minute or two until the skin loosens — then scrape away the hair and impurities. Remove the brain (set aside for another use or discard). This preliminary clean matters: a fuzzy head will muddy your stock from the start. Tie the head loosely in muslin and poach it in salted water at a bare simmer for 1 hour until the meat pulls cleanly from the bone. Let it cool enough to handle, then pick the meat into small, even cubes roughly 1 cm across. This uniformity ensures even cooking in the final braise. Soak the cubes in cold water for 15 minutes to leach out residual blood and loose proteins — this step keeps the finished dish clean and pale rather than grey. Drain well.

Build the braising liquid in a separate pot. Melt butter over moderate heat, add the ham cut into matchsticks and the herbs — parsley, thyme, marjoram, and basil — along with the onions and shallots sliced thin and the mushrooms chopped small. Let this soften without colouring, about 10 minutes, then add roughly 500 ml of your best stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 2 hours. The long, slow infusion extracts and marries the herb and ham flavours into a cohesive sauce base.

Dust the mixture with flour — about 2 tablespoons — and stir to disperse it completely. This roux will bind the sauce when you add the remaining liquid. Pour in the remaining stock and the Madeira or sherry, stirring to smooth out any lumps, and let it bubble gently for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Strain through a fine sieve into a clean pot, pressing the solids to extract all the liquid. Discard the debris.

Return the calf's head meat to the pot with the strained sauce. Season with salt, cayenne, and mace — roughly 1/4 teaspoon maced, ground fine — then add the sugar, lemon juice, and Seville orange juice. The citrus acid cuts the richness of the offal and brightens the earthiness of the long cook. Slip in the forcemeat balls and simmer just until they bob and firm, about 5 minutes. Serve in a tureen, very hot, with the meat and balls suspended in the dark, glossy sauce.