Roast Rabbit/Hare (18th-19th century)
Ingredients:
(2) rabbits,
Half a loaf of bread,
Parsley
Sweet marjoram
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
(4) ounces of butter
Cream
(2) eggs
Butter
Parsley
Many of the old recipes had no amounts for items used, just common knowledge of the day.
Preparation:
Rabbit or hare was an esteemed dish in the 18th and 19th century, so much so that cooks occasionally doctored beef to try to make it taste like hare.
After casing (skinning & gutting) two rabbits, skewer their heads with their mouths upon their backs, stick their forelegs into their ribs, skewer the hind legs doubled (this approved position in which 19th century rabbits appeared at the table); next make a stuffing for them of the crumbs of half a loaf of bread, a little parsley, sweet marjoram and thyme-all cut fine, salt, pepper and nutmeg, with (4) ounces of butter, a little good cream and (2) eggs; put it into their bodies, and sew them up; dredge and baste them well with lard; roast them about an hour. Serve them up with butter and parsley. Chop the livers, and lay them in lumps around the edge of the dish. (serves 4-6).
Note: a rabbit and a hare are different, according to Harpers Magazine, a rabbit being raised and a hare being wild. Wild hares in some areas are reported to have a disease and may be harmful if eaten. Harpers’ 1853.
Submitted by buck conner