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.
The Canuts were the silk weavers in the area around Lyon, France. In the nineteenth century this was one of their favourite dishes.
30 K 3.5/5 (2 reviews)
1 hour 25 min.
Easy
1 kg 500 g
10 IngredientsLast modified on: August 1st 2021
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:
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 25 min.
Resting: 1 hour
All in all: 1 hour 25 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
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.
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.
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.
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
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 140 RDI=60 % | 120 RDI=10 % | 290 RDI=40 % | 3,620 RDI=180 % | 15,160 RDI: 180 % |
| Per 100 g | 7 RDI=3 % | 5 RDI=1 % | 10 RDI=2 % | 180 RDI=9 % | 750 RDI: 9 % |
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
Like these other recipes: Frozen cottage cheese with strawberries, Cottage cheese tart, ... See them all 2
Liquid cream
Like these other recipes: Tagliatelle and courgette spaghetti, carbonara style, Pistachio ice cream, Rosemary steamed fish, Smoked eggs, Scallops with sorrel and Noilly Prat, ... See them all 170
Olive oil
Like these other recipes: Tomato sauce (with fresh tomatoes), Carbonnade, Purple Pesto, Crispy prawn rolls, Montlebon toast, ... See them all 521
White (spirit) vinegar
Like these other recipes: Sautéed chicken with leeks, How to prepare a lettuce, How to prepare cabbage, Provençal remoulade sauce, How to prepare romanesco, ... See them all 18
Other recipes you may also like
Béarnaise sauce
This very tasty sauce, flavoured with tarragon, chervil and shallot, with its hint of acidity, is perfect for grilled fish or meats. Its well-known as a difficult sauce, but here are all the tips that you need to succeed.May 22th 2016348 K4 1 hour 6 min.
Crème brulée
Crème brûlée (burned cream) is quite easy to prepare: it's a simple egg-cream dessert. The only difficulty is in making the delicious crunchy caramel layer on top. The perfect crème brulée (for me) is a cold and soft cream, with on top a nice hot caramel crust. This is a completely new version...December 31th 20111.67 M 74.3 4 hours 40 min.
Candied grapefruit peel
Not really a dessert, more a kind of sweet. After soakiing, strips of grapefruit skin are cooked very slowly to conservethem in sugar. It's a real treat with coffee at the end of a meal.December 20th 2018378 K 14 1 day 1 hour 25 min.
Fresh fruit in sabayon
Fresh grapefruit and / or pears, covered with a sabayon and a pinch of citrus crunch.February 21th 2011290 K4.7 55 min.
Passion fruit jellies
Usually to make fruit jellies or (fruit "paste"), it's like jam but you need to cook fruit pulp and sugar much longer. Unfortunately, this long cooking is bad for both vitamins and flavour. In this recipe we use a special jam gelling agent, to reduce cooking time as much as possible .July 4th 2018336 K4 2 hours 30 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-06-08)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.