Head meat is known as beef cheek meat.
What characterizes it - apart from the delicious taste - is the gelatin in it.
There are many ways to cook head meat, but my favorite way in a home version is without liquids, based on plenty of cilantro and one cup of beef or veal stock.
The addition of chickpeas and pickled lemon upgrades the dish to a great spicy taste, and although it takes a lot of patience to "subdue" the meat to a level of unforgettable and inviting softness, the end serves the means.
Meat with hummus and pickled lemon in long cooking/Magad Gozani
Ingredients:
1 kg of head meat {cheek}
2 cups of chickpeas soaked overnight and well cooked
3 hot red peppers
1 cup of veal or beef stock or water
6-8 whole garlic cloves
1 tablespoon pickled lemon
Salt (add gently. If the meat is tender, you must taste it before adding)
1/2 tablespoon fresh cumin
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon of ground pepper (for refined spiciness. You can add)
Half a tablespoon of sweet Moroccan paprika
To serve: a bunch of finely chopped cilantro (optional)
Preparation:
1.
Heat the olive oil in a pot and lower the heat.
2.
Add the whole cloves of garlic.
3
.
Season the olive oil and garlic with cumin, paprika and pickled lemon.
4.
Place the piece of meat and close it on both sides.
5.
Cover the pot, make sure the heat is low and cook without liquids for about 30 minutes.
6
.
After 30 minutes, add the cup of liquid.
7.
Add the whole hot peppers and the chickpeas and cook on a very low flame for about two and a half hours, until the liquid is reduced.
8.
Check the meat if it is soft enough.
If not, continue cooking.
If so, remove the meat and cool.
9.
After the steak has cooled, cut it into rough cubes and return to the pot for another 30 minutes of cooking at the same temperature.
Add coriander and serve.
More on the same topic:
meat
veal cheek
Avi Levy