Tlačenka (head cheese)

Tlačenka (head cheese) is a traditional Slovenian dish made from various parts of the pig, most commonly the head, feet, and other lesser-used cuts of meat. The meat is cooked together with natural gelatin, then cooled and left to set into a firm, jelly-like loaf that can be sliced. Spices, herbs, and other seasonings are often added to enhance the flavour.

This dish is popular in many cultures around the world under different names and recipes. While its appearance and taste may seem unusual to some, it’s valued for its practicality—making use of cuts of meat that might otherwise be discarded—while still delivering rich, hearty flavour.

Ingridients:

1 smaller pig head
4 pork legs
2 pcs of turnips
0.5 kg of pork kidneys
0.5 kg of pork hearts
0.5 kg of soup vegetables (carrots, celery, leeks, onions, parsley)
0.1 kg of garlic
salt
whole pepper
bay leaves
carnations

Preparation:

In a large pot, place the pork head, legs, tail, soup vegetables and herbs. We cook approx. 2 hours. Then cook the well-washed kidneys and hearts in the same pot until soft (approx. 1 hour). Cooked foods are separated from water (bile – gelatinous soup). Separate the bones from the meat from the heads and cut into small cubes; the tail is torn from the bones; the legs are torn from the bones and cut into small cubes; liver and kidneys cut into small cubes. Mix all the meat ingredients well in a large bowl and salt, pepper, add the chopped garlic and pour over the broth in which the food was cooked. Pour the mixture into any molds or casings and cool. We cut the pressure cold. It can be served with oil, vinegar, jams, shallots…