Ox-Cheek Soup

Ingredients

• 1 ox-cheek
• 2 oz butter
• 3 or 4 slices lean ham or bacon
• 1 parsnip
• 3 carrots
• 2 onions
• 3 celery heads
• 3 mace blades
• 4 cloves
• 1 faggot savoury herbs
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp pepper
• 1 celery head
• browning
• 1 French roll crust
• 6 quarts water
• flour
• 1 glass sherry

Method

Smash the cheek's jaw with a rolling pin to crack the bone and expose the marrow — this accelerates extraction during the long braising phase. Lay the ham slices across the pot bottom, set the cheek on top, and scatter the diced root vegetables (parsnip, carrot, onion, celery) around it along with the mace blades, cloves, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. The ham fat will render into the butter under heat and create the base stock emulsion. Melt the butter and ham together over medium heat for 10 minutes — you want a gentle sizzle, not a hard boil. This is the moment to build flavour through the Maillard reaction before liquid goes in.

Pour 6 quarts of cold water over everything. Bring to a rolling simmer — not a violent boil, but active bubbling — and maintain it for 3 to 4 hours. The extended time breaks down the collagen in the cheek into gelatin, thickening the stock naturally. Skim the foam that rises in the first 20 minutes; it's coagulated proteins and impurities that cloud the final soup. You'll know the cheek is done when the meat pulls apart at the gentlest pressure from a spoon.

Lift the meat out and set it aside. Strain the broth through muslin into a clean pot, pressing the vegetables to extract their essence but discarding the solids themselves. You should have roughly 4 quarts of liquid; if you have more, simmer uncovered until reduced. The broth should be amber and translucent, not murky.

Slice the fresh celery head into thin half-moons and add to the broth. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until the celery still has bite but is no longer raw. Shred the cheek meat into small, neat pieces and return it to the pot. If the colour is pallid, add a splash of meat browning — mushroom ketchup works equally well. Finish with a glass of dry sherry, which cuts the richness and brightens the umami. Serve in a tureen with toasted French roll crust on the side for dipping.