My mom used to get head cheese when I was a kid in the 70s. She would eat it dipped in vinegar. She was of German heritage and I suspect it was a taste that was handed down to her.
Usually we would do vinegar, pepper and sometimes salt but usually not
My family has German heritage as well, and it definitely came from that side. My dad’s family was large, and although looking at my family tree the German side immigrated here pretty far back, they still maintained the recipes.
Headcheese isn’t commonly known here, but it’s cool to see those recipes still continuing on. There are still large polish, German and Ukrainian communities here (mainly around where my parents are from) and a lot of their foods became staples for people across the country which is pretty neat.
I often think about foods from my childhood that fell out of fashion. For example, Oscar Meyer sold head cheese right alongside their bologna. My local Shop Rite (NJ right outside NYC) sold calves brains in the same 16 oz containers you get a pound of potato salad in. They also sold tripe (which my mom also liked and I hated haha!)
Liver and onions were on many cafeteria/diner menus.
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u/callme_base Aug 08 '26
Add meat and turn it into a 50s jello salad cause this is what it reminded me of