Chicken Head Cheese: Today marked a milestone for me: my last official shopping trip for the blog. I have a couple restaurant dinners coming up over the next couple weeks that I'm planning on gaining blog entries from, but I wanted to stockpile some stuff today to get me through the remaining days. With that in mind, I did my usual Buford Highway crawl. In addition to finding more interesting Asian pastries at another bakery, I also made my obligatory visit to the Buford Highway Farmers Market. As much as I love that place, I think it's going to be a long time before I go back.
As I was browsing the Eastern European section, I made one last pass through the deli counter, hoping to find anything I'd missed before. Piroshkis? Check. Smoked fish? Already done that several times. However, I did find something in the deli that I didn't recognize. It looked like head cheese, but was much lighter in color than the types I'd tried before. I asked the counter attendant what it was, and he informed me that it was "chicken head cheese." That explained the lighter color, since I'd only tried the beef and pork varieties.
I was all ready to buy some without tasting first, but he graciously gave me a sample to try. Like all other head cheese, it consisted of various parts suspended in a jelly-like aspic, then seasoned. The aspic in this one was much more thick and gelatinous than I was used to, almost like firmer Jell-O. Flavor-wise, it was one of the better head cheeses I've had. The aspic tasted like a flavorful blend of chicken broth/fat, and the meat suspended inside was more like lean white-meat chicken than the fattier stuff I'd eaten in other head cheeses. Good stuff, and I'd definitely eat it again.
Buford Highway Farmers Market, I'm gonna miss you. I'll be back one day, I promise.
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