Souse. It’s such an innocent-sounding term. But peel back the layers — or rather, boil the bones and strip off every morsel of meat — and you’ll have the truth behind this Southern tradition.
It’s down-home head cheese.
Gape in shock. Recoil in fear. But if you were at the N.C. State Fair when I was and one of the kindest old women you could ever meet extended to you a souse-loaded soda cracker after watching you joyously knock back three samples of pork liver pudding, you would change your mind. Well maybe sans that last part. But you get the gist.
Souse isn’t paté, it isn’t a spread and it isn’t Jell-O. Think a delightful hybrid of all three, but rich with porcine fat (flavor) and, for history suckers like me, Southern tradition.
Souse is made from the leftover scraps of meat from a butchered pig in a process similar to the European tradition of head cheese. First, leftover bones (usually the head) are boiled to release the bits and pieces of meat tucked away in crevices such as the jowls, ears, nose and cheeks, among other things. Then, the reduced leftover concoction of natural gelatin, fat and meat boiled from the now-bare bones is seasoned with spices and vinegar and chilled into a loaf-like form.
Slice it and spread it on crackers or bread after it sets, and bask in the glory of souse.
Souse, like headcheese, has traditionally been a food for the lower and working classes, as it allows you to get the most bang for your buck — or pig, rather (though I’m sure venison souse would be great, too). Thus it became a Southern folk food, popular among those that scraped a living from fields and factory jobs.
I knew I was eating the right thing when I noticed that, other than my friend Jake, the only other people crowded around the table were old farmers leaning back with their hands in their overalls, smiling as they licked the remnant cracker crumbs and flecks of gelatin from their lips.
If the guy that raises and grows your food eats something, fair bet it is a wise decision to try it. So I did and I am forever grateful.
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