Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Sheep's head - where to buy?


sabg

Recommended Posts

i was watching anthony bourdain ohhh and ahhh over sheep head and know it is a xmas timecelebration food for some....i called 2 butchers in my area, boca raton florida, and was told by one they are illegal in the us (i dont believe it) and the othere asked why i would want one ( i hung up) i have been looking at cuban, kosker butchers and have had no luck...does anyone have butcher/slaughterhouse name?? i would go to miami to get it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't believe I caught your post. A few days ago, I was chatting with a few chef friends who told me they wanted to get a calf head, but were having no luck; however, I cracked the code. Here's the deal.

If you go to EatWild.com (great site by the way with information about 100% grass fed local beef/meat), you can look in their directory to find local meat sources.

I started calling places and I found someone who raises calf for slaughter and I asked if I could buy a head. We've coordinated the schedule (i.e. they know when they're slaughtering next and you need to get the head very 'fresh' from the processor). Tentatively, I'm getting the head 9/25 and I can't wait to see my chef friend's face when I show up with the head!

I'd suggest you try a similar route and see how it goes. Let me know if you have any luck and I'd love to learn more about what you end up doing with it. On this end, I know he wants the head with the brain, cheeks and tongue in tact, but I don't know the details of where he's going from there.

-Mark-

---------------------------------------------------------

"If you don't want to use butter, add cream."

Julia Child

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am guessing brain is not Kosher...but perhaps a Halal butcher may be of more help

I could tell you where to get one in NJ, I always hated seeing them hanging over the butcher at Corrados Italian Market when I was a kid.

tracey

The great thing about barbeque is that when you get hungry 3 hours later....you can lick your fingers

Maxine

Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.

"It is the government's fault, they've eaten everything."

My Webpage

garden state motorcyle association

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think brain is kosher . . .but either way, eating parts of a head (lamb, beef, fish, etc.) are a tradition at Rosh Hashana, which is a few weeks off. I'd check with another kosher butcher to see if they can get their hands on one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't believe I caught your post.  A few days ago, I was chatting with a few chef friends who told me they wanted to get a calf head, but were having no luck; however, I cracked the code.  Here's the deal.

If you go to EatWild.com (great site by the way with information about 100% grass fed local beef/meat), you can look in their directory to find local meat sources.

I started calling places and I found someone who raises calf for slaughter and I asked if I could buy a head.  We've coordinated the schedule (i.e. they know when they're slaughtering next and you need to get the head very 'fresh' from the processor).  Tentatively, I'm getting the head 9/25 and I can't wait to see my chef friend's face when I show up with the head!

I'd suggest you try a similar route and see how it goes.  Let me know if you have any luck and I'd love to learn more about what you end up doing with it.  On this end, I know he wants the head with the brain, cheeks and tongue in tact, but I don't know the details of where he's going from there.

-Mark-

thanks for the info...i am going to get on this tomorrow...i gues it could also be a goat or cow...i just happened to see the sheep first...i hope you post pics of your head before and after
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sheep heads may very well be illegal in the US, due to scrapie. Or not.

I don't think so... a couple of Pakistani restaurants here in SF serve an incredible lamb-brain masala.

I would find the nearest halal market and ask. I'd suggest calling farms, but I doubt anyone raises sheep in southern Florida. Alternatively, try looking on the Internet for a mail-order source and work out a deal with the supplier. I imagine they'd be happy to sell you one, two, or fifteen--heads aren't too popular in the U.S., yet every lamb seems to have one.

Edited by StevenC (log)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I grow up eating sheep head., sold as lamb head. As a kid I used to call it "alligator head". That's what it looked like to me. You need to get them cut in half lengthwise or it's hard to get the inside stuff out. The brains, tongue, cheek are delicious and my favorite parts. Mom used to roast them with salt and garlic, them shred the meat. We ate them with corn torilla as little tacos.

She used to get them at a butcher on 16th street in Sac. I think possibly a hispanic butcher- they were always frozen and pre cut.

"A few days ago, I heard a doctor talking on television about the dangers of stress. It can kill you. It can cause a heart attack or stroke. The doctor listed many ways of coping with stress. Exercise. Diet Yoga. Talk a walk. I yelled, "Bake cookies." I often talk to the television. I yelled it again and again. The doctor went on with his list of 12 ways to reduce stress and he never once mentioned my sure-fire treatment......"

Maida Heatter

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...