Rabbit

[isidore]

just a question. pardon my french.

whenever I go to the supermarket or butchers in London, I have never seen rabbit on sale.

Do people eat rabbit in the UK ?

It may seem a stupid question but rabbit can be found easily in France or Spain.

regards.

[mas]

My local Tesco's in London frequently has rabbit but that's not where I tend to buy it.

I usually go to Borough market or to a butchers on the Essex Road in Islington. Can't remember the name right now, but the shop is next Steve Hatt, the fantastic fish monger.

Btw, hello. This is my first post on egullet.

[Foodie_Penguin]

just a question. pardon my french.

  whenever I go to the supermarket or butchers in London, I have never seen rabbit on sale.

 

  Do people eat rabbit in the UK ?

  It may seem a stupid question but rabbit can be found easily in France or Spain.

  regards.

I don't live in the UK any longer but when I did, I used to eat rabbit.

As a child my mother served rabbit stew. I don't know where she got the rabbit. Maybe from a supermarket in those days.

Since I started preparing rabbit stew myself, I've seen and/or bought rabbit from farmers markets in London (that's where I lived) but also at my local Sainsburys (at least the one on Finchley Road in London).

I expect a decent butcher in the UK would be able to get you rabbit as a special order.

I think rabbit's considered "peasant" food in the UK and was probably eaten regularly up till the 70s. I think rabbit meat is harder to find in the UK because most people have not eaten it and are squeamish about eating it.

Foodie_Penguin

[Jon Tseng]

borough market have it - usually four quid for a wild one

could tell it was *genuinely* wild when I was cutting it up and found a broken femur with bits of shot embedded...

J

[endless autumn]

Sainsbury's sell rabbit too (at least the Finchley Road one does).

Most rabbit you get in England is wild and much gamier than French or Spanish supermarket rabbit - if you want farmed English rabbits try Woldsway Foods.

I've got some confit rabbit in my fridge a the moment. yum.

[isidore]

ok for borough market. I will have a go.

Finchley road.

Do you mean the Golders Green area, or closer to O2 ?

cheers.

[endless autumn]

The O2 centre: four slices of saddle (imported, farmed) for a pricey £5.50.

(To tell the truth I much prefer the sweet little nuggets to the tainted, tough old meat which you often get from Farmer's Markets and even Borough.)

[MobyP]

mas - welcome!

Isidore - you can definitely find rabbits around - usually by the bushel/hoard/cavalcade/clutch at Borough, and I have the feeling I might have seen them at the Sainsbury's in Kensington.

I'm sure your local butchers could probably order them.

I've yet to actually buy one cos (a) it's a bunny, and was probably called flopsy even if it does taste great with mustard between two slices of bread and a great slab of bacon, and (b) how do you tell what's good? Smell? Prod it? Geography? Are Cornish hoppers more tender? Are the Welsh ones longer in the thigh? (Hmm, I sense an almost enitirely train-spotterish type of thread coming on...) Where, oh where do I find my Bresse Bunny?

Edited October 28, 2003 by MobyP (log)

[Jon Tseng]

Oh yes - sainsburys do do rabbit

I'm pretty sure its farmed; often they have meaty legs. look for it near ducks in and other less common meat

J

PS which reminds me, about ten years ago you could get wood pigeon, quail and all sorts in sainsburys. no longer, although quail appears occasionally...

[isidore]

well, I have some homework for this week-end, shopping around in London.

I am not too fussed on farmer vs game this time.

In the end, it all comes to traceability. Surely the Sainsbury's "labels" will give me details of the origin of the rabbit .

My expectations are not high but if I can get a decent price for a wild type: hurray.

[MobyP]

Isidore - have you been to Borough yet?

It's just about as good as life gets in this country.

Though it can be a bit pricey.

[Pinga]

Just to add that in Dorset,where I spend most weekends,rabbit is freely available and almost given away(all wild) .What I have not been able to source is Hare.Not a taste you would want every day but I find that once a season with pappardelle is awesome and if you were to eat this in a London establishment I would expect it to cost mucho dineiro.Any ideas on a London butcher who would stock this.

p.s sorry to wander off topic

[Jonathan Day]

Most good local butchers will provide rabbit. In South London I get both rabbit and hare at Dove's, Northcote Road; also Moen's, on the Pavement. At some times of the year an call a day or so in advance may be needed.

In Islington we used to shop at a butcher and game dealer (no longer remember the name but it was in Canonbury) where the rabbits hung by their hind feet from a hook, completely furred, until a customer ordered one. Then the butcher would take the bunny and peel its skin like a glove. The procedure was a bit grim but the product was very good.

[endless autumn]

Re: hares

Borough should be able to sort you - the place with the fish and game.

Otherwise Manor Farm Game (all farmer's markets just about: see www.londonfarmersmarkets.org.uk) sells them for £10 a pop I think. They were definitely at Marylebone, Islington, Ealing, Pimlico and even Whetstone last time I visited. They have a website, so ring for availability if you like.

edited to let you know what I was on about

Edited October 28, 2003 by endless autumn (log)

[Stigand]

PS which reminds me, about ten years ago you could get wood pigeon, quail and all sorts in sainsburys. no longer, although quail appears occasionally...

The new Sainsbury's Market in Pimlico seems to sell 'wild' rabbit (tastes quite gamey, no shot yet though), wild duck, partridge and quail every day. Also fresh mussels in what I can only describe as the seafood equivalent of a gumball-vending machine.

It opened a couple of weeks ago and I've fallen in love with the place already. OK, it ain't a real market, but for a supermarket - especially a central London one - it's awesome without being awesomely priced.

S

[Spam]

... Manor Farm Game (all farmer's markets just about: see www.londonfarmersmarkets.org.uk) ...

Big fan of Manor Game, and a big fan of cooking bunnies at home. Eating rabbit in restaurants seems to be a trickier business. I had Richard Corrigan's signiture dish of rabbit and black pudding wrapped in bayonne ham (I think) a month or so ago, and was disappointed at it dryness.

Any one had any decent bunny in a restaurant recently?

[Hallie]

[

I've seen and/or bought rabbit from farmers markets in London (that's where I lived) but also at my local Sainsburys (at least the one on Finchley Road in London).

I have to say, I find it rather interesting that so many e-gulleters use the Sainsburys at the O2 Centre as their local supermarket. We must rub shoulders unbeknownst!

Look me for me, I'm the one moaning about the over-packaged produce, the best before dates that expire within 24 hours, and Sainsbury's inability to restock their shelves.

By the way, if you go in the evenings Sainsburys becomes a freak-show; men in frilly skirts, women dressed like gypsies and other escapees from the circus side-show. I'm serious.

[Pinga]

Spam-I had a rabbit dish at Racine(great place ) the other day in a mustard sauce I think-pretty good but as you say the tendency to be dry is a problem with any lean game and possibly an arguement for farmed rabbit.

[thom]

I had a rather fine (and very garlicky) rabbit dish at Passione a couple of months ago. Kind of like a hotpot with lots of thinly sliced potato, very, very nice though.

Having recently moved to the wilds of Glossop in the Peak District I am lucky enough to have a fantastic local butcher (Mettricks) who always seems to have rabbit in. In fact, just the though has inspired me to have a crack at Gennaro's dish at home, I think it's in the Passione cookbook.

Cheers

Thom

[Andy Lynes]

Spam-I had a rabbit dish at Racine(great place ) the other day in a mustard sauce I think

Bacon and mustard usually, I've never had it myself but a friend had it a while ago and I've seen plates of it being delivered to other tables. Looks very nice I have to say. Probably a variation on Simon Hopkinson's dish where he bones and stuffs the leg with a garlic and butter mixture, then wraps it in bacon, roasts it and serves it with a mustard cream sauce. Works a treat with chicken as well. (Gary Rhodes did a very similar dish in his "Fabulous Food" book actually, a little while after Hopkinson's recipe was published in Great British Chefs by Kit Chapman, in which coincidentialy Rhodes also featured.)

[sagestrat]

I picked up a rabbit today at the farmer's market. Any suggestions for how to cook it?

[slkinsey]

Make "coniglio in fricò."

Cu the rabbit up into parts and brown it thoroughly in a heavy pot over high heat. Then throw in some whole cloves of garlic, several sprigs of rosemary and a bunch of juniper berries. Then pour in a thin layer of dry white wine and slap a lid on the pot. Every so often, add a little big more wine to keep a shallow layer of furiously boiling liquid on the bottom of the pan. When the bottle is empty and the last of the wine evaporated, the rabbit is done.

[canadiancook]

Rabbit Cacciatore

Cut the rabbit up into parts, season with salt and pepper and brown the pieces in a large pan. Remove the pieces and add a pinch (or more) of red pepper flakes and chopped onions, celery and carrots. Add mushrooms and sliced garlic. Deglaze with a little wine, add some chicken stock and canned tomatos and bring all to a simmer. Return the rabbit and braise for about 20 - 30 minutes. If the sauce hasn't thickened, reduce it some more. Finish with salt, pepper, thyme and parlsey and serve with creamy polenta, mashed potatos or rice.

This of course works well with chicken as well. I find the thighs and legs are better as the white meat tends to dry out a bit.

[fimbul]

FWIW, I spent forever trying to figure out how to debone/cut up a rabbit. It wasn't rocket science, and I did okay on my own, but when I finally discovered a how-to, I felt much better about the whole process. If you have time and a library, or time, money, and a bookstore nearby, both The CIA's The Professional Chef and Jame's Peterson's The Essentials of Cooking discuss and illustrate rabbit anatomy 101. I think the latter's book about French Cooking also goes into how to de-wascal your wabbit, but check before you buy it.

I mention this because I've always had luck treating the rabbit's saddle and his legs as two separate meats. My best rabbit meals have involved braising the two hind legs in wine and stock, pan-frying the loins, and simmering the front legs and everything else for stock and/or shredded meat for pasta sauce.

edit: anamtomy? DOH!

Edited January 9, 2004 by fimbul (log)

[sagestrat]

Thanks. It should be a good dinner tonight!