Stugon
(Head Cheese)
Head Cheese and Grandmas Wrath

Whenever my grandpa could get his hands on a pigs head he would make stugon or head cheese. As he got older that got harder and harder as we lived in Lansing Michigan and you had to know somebody that knew somebody to get one. But he would manage every once in awhile to find one. He would gather all of the spices and other bones – beef hocks and pork shanks – and start boiling. Eventually it would end up in Grandmas pressure cooker. I personally didn’t care for the stuff, but my Grandpa and my Uncle and Dad were crazy about it.

One day when I was going to collage and working I dropping by my grandparent’s house for lunch as I often did. I was stopped in my tracks as I walked in the back door to the kitchen and was struck dumb with what I saw. There was my grandpa feverishly trying to mop up something off the counter and stove and grandma standing in the middle of the kitchen yelling loud and saying words in German that I had never heard in my life. My grandpa had done something wrong and the pressure cooker had blown up. So there was head cheese dripping off the ceiling, the stove and down the fronts of the cabinets. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my grandma that mad and I decided I would come back for lunch another day.

Grandpas Head Cheese (Stugon)
1 pigs head
2 pork hocks
2 beef shanks
1 large onion
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons salt
Pepper to taste
3 cloves garlic

Boil all together until tender. Remove meat from juice and cool. Strain the juices when cool. Remove meat from the bones and throw away any skin, cartilage and bones. Cut meat into very small pieces. Mince onion. Put meat, juices, seasonings and onion together in a large pot and bring to a boil. Pour into a glass dish and refrigerate to set.

This can also be made with a chicken instead of the pigs head.

Donated by Gail Anderson