Sheep's Head Galimaufried is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic dish of boiled sheep's head and pluck, where the pluck is minced, mixed with mushrooms, shallots and spices and flavoured with Oude sauce before being dished and garnished with the head halves that have been breaded and roasted. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Sheep's Head Galimaufried.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Sheep's Head Galimaufried that's derived from the chef, Charles Elmé Francatelli's 1861 volume, The Cook's Guide and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
Original Recipe
No. 423.—SHEEPS HEADS GALLIMAUFRIED.
Procure the head and pluck of a fresh-killed sheep ; split the head into halves, remove the brains; steep the whole in water, and wash them thoroughly. Next, place the head, lights, heart, and liver in a stewpan with carrot, onion, celery, garnished faggot of parsley, six cloves, mace, a few Jamaica peppercorns, and a small handful of salt ; moisten with sufficient common broth or water to make the contents of the stew pan swim, and then set the whole to braize slowly over the fire for out an hour and a half. When the head, &c., are done, take them up carefully on a dish, strain the broth, and after having removed all grease, boil down one-half to thin glaze, and with the remainder make some brown sauce. The halves of the head should be trimmed, seasoned with chopped parsley and shallot, pepper and salt, egged over and bread-crumbed, and then, after having sprinkled some clarified butter over the surface the cheek only, should be again bread-crumbed and placed on a buttered sautapan for the purpose of being baked of a golden-brown colour. The liver, lights, and heart. must be chopped up into fine mince, and when the sauce has been boiled down to its proper consistency, add the mince, some chopped parsley, mushrooms, and shalots, nutmeg, pepper and salt, and a dessert-spoonful of Crosse and Blackwell's Oude sauce ; stir well together over the fire until quite hot, and then pile up the mince in the centre of the dish ; place the pieces of head upon this, garnish the base with thin strippets of frizzled bacon, and serve. Note.—The brains—after being cleaned—should be boiled in vinegar and water, with a little salt, for a few minutes, cut in slices, and placed between the halves of the head.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 sheep's head
1 sheep's pluck (liver, lungs and heart)
2 carrots, scraped and chopped
2 onions, peeled and diced
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 bunch of parsley, tied together
6 cloves
2 blades of mace
1 tsp allspice berries
1 tbsp salt
4 tbsp parsley, chopped
4 shallots, finely chopped
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
2 eggs, beaten
200g breadcrumbs
3 tbsp clarified butter, melted
4 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
100g mushrooms, chopped
4 shallots, finely chopped
1/2 tsp freshly-grated nutmeg
1 dessert spoon Oude sauce
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
8 rashers of streaky bacon, stretched with the back of a knife, halved and fried until crisp
Method:
Obtain a prepared sheep's head and remove the brains. Steep he head in warm water to blanch and place the brains in cold water for 60 minutes.
Wash the components of the pluck (heart, lungs and liver) thoroughly then place the head, lungs, liver and heart in a large pan with the carrot, onion, celery, parsley, cloves, mace, allspice and salt. Add enough thin stock or water to sufficiently cover all the ingredients. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook slowly for 90 minutes, or until all the ingredients are tender.
Remove the meats and set aside to keep warm. Strain the stock and skim off all the fat from the surface. Pour half the stock into a pan, bring to a boil and reduce to a thin glaze. Use the remaining stock to make a brown sauce.
Trim the two halves of the head and season with chopped parsley and shallot, salt and black pepper. Coat with the beaten eggs then cover with breadcrumbs. Sprinkle a little clarified butter over the cheeks then add another layer of breadcrumbs to the cheeks.
Place the head halves on a greased baking tray, transfer to an oven pre-heated to 200°C and bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Finely mince the liver, lungs and heart. When the glaze has reduced sufficiently add the mint then work in the parsley, mushrooms, shallots, nutmeg, pepper and salt. Stir in the Oude sauce and stir together until all the ingredients are hot.
Pile this mince in the centre of a serving dish and place the two halves of the head on top. Garnish the base with the bacon and serve accompanied by the gravy.
If desired, the brains can be boiled in a lightly-salted mix of water and vinegar for about 6 minutes to harden before being sliced and arranged between the two head halves.
