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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.

5,550 2 3.5

Last modified on: August 1^st 2021

Keywords for this recipe:Cottage cheese Herbs Lyon Silk

For 500 g, you will need:

1 400 g cottage (or curd) cheese
2 3 shallots
3 2 cloves garlic
4 chives
5 parsley
6 4 tablespoons liquid cream
7 4 tablespoons olive oil
8 4 tablespoons white (spirit) vinegar
9 salt
10 pepper
Total weight: 675 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 does it take?

Time required for this recipe:

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

At what time:

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Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 1 hour

Thoroughly drain 400 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 3 shallots and 2 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 4 tablespoons liquid cream and beat with a whisk to loosen the cheese.

Stage 6 - 2 min.

Salt and pepper, then add 4 tablespoons olive oil and 4 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.

Nutritional information

Whole recipe
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
1,207 Kcal or 5,053 Kj	48 gr	39 gr	95 gr
60 %	18 %	4 %	14 %

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).

How much will it cost?

For 500 g : 2.60 €

Change currency:

Note : These prices are only approximate.

Source

Home made.

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
	Olive oil: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Fresh spinach with cream, Minestrone, Cretan Bread, Chicken and avocado bagels, Baked sea bass fillet with lemon and tarragon, ... All
	White (spirit) vinegar: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Pickled gherkins, Sautéed chicken with leeks, Fish petals, vegetables julienne, and beurre blanc, Artichoke hearts forestier , How to prepare sorrel, ... All
	Liquid cream: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Maroilles cheese quiche, Pistachio tiramisu, Filo leeks and cheese tart, Smoked eggs, Late Winter Soup with Fresh Spinach, ... All

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