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Cervelle de Canut

In French, this curious name means "silk-weaver's brain", but don't be alarmed, this tasty "brain" consists of cottage cheese mixed with herbs, vinegar and finely chopped shallots.

The Canuts were the silk weavers in the area around Lyon, France. In the nineteenth century this was one of their favourite dishes.

21K 3.5/5 based on 2 reviews

Last modified on: August 1^st 2021

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For 1 kg 500 g, you will need:

1 1 kg 200 g cottage (or curd) cheese
2 9 shallots
3 6 cloves garlic
4 chives
5 parsley
6 12 tablespoons liquid cream
7 12 tablespoons olive oil
8 12 tablespoons white (spirit) vinegar
9 salt
10 pepper
Total weight: 2,025 grams

Change these quantities to make: 250 g 500 g 1 kg 1 kg 500 g

Change measures: Metric

Metric weight Metric volumes

How long will it take?

Time required for this recipe:

Preparation	Resting	Start to finish
21 min.	1 hour	1 hour 21 min.

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When will I finish if I start the recipe at ... ?
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Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 1 hour

Thoroughly drain 1 kg 200 g cottage (or curd) cheese: put in a strainer over a bowl and leave for at least 1 hour.

Stage 2 - 10 min.

Meanwhile, peel 9 shallots and 6 cloves garlic. Prepare the chives and parsley.

If you can, pick a few chive flowers as well.

Stage 3 - 3 min.

Chop the shallots and garlic cloves very finely.

Stage 4 - 2 min.

Chop the parsley and chives.

Stage 5 - 2 min.

Transfer the drained cottage cheese to a bowl, add 12 tablespoons liquid cream and beat with a whisk to loosen the cheese.

Stage 6 - 2 min.

Salt and pepper, then add 12 tablespoons olive oil and 12 tablespoons white (spirit) vinegar. Beat again to mix well.

Stage 7 - 2 min.

Add the shallots, herbs and the chive flowers if you have some, and mix these in with a spoon.

Check the seasoning.

Your Cervelle de Canut is ready.

Stage 8

You can enjoy it on fingers of toast...

Stage 9

...as an aperitif snack.

Stage 10

Or as part of a meal with, say, steamed potatoes.

Remarks

The amounts given are for guidance, so do adapt them, a little more of this or less of that, to suit your taste.

The herbs can be whatever you prefer: parsley and chives as here, or chervil and tarragon, which also work well.

Keeping

1 or 2 days in the fridge, covered with plastic film.

Source

Home made.

Nutritional information

Whole recipe
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
3,620 Kcal or 15,156 Kj	144 gr	117 gr	286 gr
181 %	55 %	11 %	43 %

Per 100 g
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
179 Kcal or 749 Kj	7 gr	6 gr	14 gr
9 %	3 %	1 %	2 %

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories or 8400 k-joules by day for a woman (change to a man).

Possible allergens in this recipe: Milk, Sulfites

How much will it cost?

For 1 kg 500 g : 7.80 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.

This recipe uses (among others)

	Cottage (or curd) cheese : You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Frozen cottage cheese with strawberries, ... All
	Liquid cream: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Apple and almond gratin, Crème de foie gras, Auvergne gratin, Little vanilla, clementine and chestnut verrines, Gratin of leeks with Morbier cheese, ... All
	Olive oil: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Tomato sauce (for pizzas), Deep leek and potato quiche, Potimarron braised in meat jus, Polenta parmentier, Couscous, ... All
	White (spirit) vinegar: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Poached eggs, Béarnaise sauce, Sautéed chicken with leeks, Pickled gherkins, Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée), ... All

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