The spirit of cookery

The thin-ribbed thoracic and the flabby abdominal flanks of the rabbit are always of bad taste, and should be removed in the trimming of every preparation, and never used. For the same reason it is not advisable to fill a rabbit with ventral stuffing. Great care is to be taken to use only a perfectly sound liver, free from nodules and discoloured spots. CHAPTER XLIII. PREPARATIONS OF HARE. The Jews were ordered by the Levites not to eat the hare. This was made use of for some pleasantry by Plutarch, who repeated a satirical observation of the grammarian Apion, to the effect that the Jews avoided eating the hare on account of the similarity of its ears to those of the ass, which latter they adored. The hare was not eaten by the ancient Britons, as reported by Caesar. Though it abounded in the Orient, as we know from Xenophon, and in Greece and all the islands of its seas, Hippocrates had forbidden its use, alleging that it thickened the blood and caused cruel wakefulness. Galen controverted this opinion. At all events, both Greeks and Romans ate hare roast and in pies, and some Roman ladies were said to have eaten it daily for a long period as a cure for plainness of features. The preparations of hare resemble in many respects those of rabbit. Hare soup we have sufficiently discussed above ; it is, according to some, the only form in which it is desirable to eat any part of the hare. The leocret, or young hare, has, like the laperea, or young rabbit, a small knob under the first joint of the fore-foot, which disappears as it grows older. A hare can also be judged of by the toughness of its ears. If they are easily torn, it will probably be tender ; if they resist much, the flesh will be tough. Roast Hare, as dressed in England, is a form difficult to manage. The animal is skewered in a crouching position, with its head and ears on. Though enveloped in bacon and oiled paper, it is mostly dry, and but an indifferent ‘ second-course roast.’ A form in which the flesh can be kept more juicy is the so-called Baron of Hare, roasted or baked in the oven. Having cased the hare (casing is a technical term for skinning and drawing, or paunching), cut off the anterior part with the shoulders, the ribs, and place all these parts with the liver, head, and kidneys, to make a brown ragout with ; split the pelvic bones in the middle line ; cut away the tendinous outer skin, lard the hare, and place it in an aromatic marinade of vinegar and water for at least twenty-four hours. Braise it with all additions ; reduce the braise to a proper adhesive consistency. A young hare will be done in little more than half an hour, an older one in less than an hour. When the hare is certainly young, the marinade may be omitted. Fillets of Hare may be similarly treated, or with Puree of Hare, and be served with any suitable sauce — tomato, poivrade, cinnamon, and cherry sauce; the latter is termed d VAllemande. Fillets of Hare can also be dressed as cutlets, aio naturcl, or in various complicated forms.