Backyard Bunny

Backyard Bunny

(an adaption of the recipe originally published at www.forktales.com)

 Rabbit is one of those meats that causes some discomfort to the average American. It is strange that this Disneyan anthropomorphism works with Thumper more than with Bambi. Rabbit is in fact a lean, healthy meat, and, like lamb, needs a healthy and humane environment to grow—unlike the mass production of chicken, America’s most popular protein (4). Like chicken, rabbits were part of the traditional Italian homestead, so available, affordable, and sustainable. My neighbor, Anita, would go and cut fresh grass for her rabbits every morning, so they eat well. 

Unfortunately, rabbit has become expensive. The renewed interest in traditional faire and Slow Food have made rabbit, together with tripe, oxtail, and offal no longer poor meats but rather fashionable, and expensive. The price of oxtail is about the same per kilo as some steak cuts (5), which doesn’t seem quite fair considering the percentage of bone in oxtail. I don’t want to prioritize and say steak is “better” than oxtail, it depends on too many factors, but just that that has been the general attitude in Italy and in America. Steak was a luxury, and oxtail was not. But every once in a while, the status of foods changes. The lobster, for example. (You can hear Jeremy Chervas’ excellent podcast of food and status here. And read Consider the Lobster, by Davis Foster Wallace.) 

So back to our rabbit. I would walk to Anita’s house and tell her I needed a rabbit. She and Dante would skin it right there (there are pictures on forktales), dog’s circling, more curious than hungry. That the rabbit and the wild fennel and the olives and the wine all come from this same plot of land is part of what makes it perfect. The other part is that it is so good. 

 Whole Roasted Rabbit

 One rabbit, about 2 kg, with interiors (heart, liver, kidneys)

Pancetta or guanciale, diced, 100 g

White wine, 200 ml or 100 ml white wine vinegar and 100 ml water

“odori” (1carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1 onion, 1-2 cloves of garlic) minced, 200 g total

Wild fennel, flowers, leaves, or seeds, about 50 g

taggiasche olives, 50 g

Extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, as needed. 

 Soak the rabbit overnight in wine or vinegar and water and a bay leaf. This will soften the meat and take out any gaminess. 

Make a stuffing by sauteeing the chopped interiors (liver esp, but also heart and kidneys) in olive oil with chopped garlic, abundant pancetta (1), olives (2), chopped onions, carrots, celery and wild fennel leaves and flowers or seeds(3).

Stuff the upper cavity with the stuffing and a handful of fennel leaves and close with string. Massage all over with abundant olive oil and salt and pepper and wild fennel flowers. Roast whole on non-stick baking pan for 1 ½ to 2 hours at 400 °F (200 °C), turning occasionally. Add a glass of white wine or water, if necessary, to keep juices from burning. Gradually turn more often until brown on all sides. Remove and make a gravy by adding a cup of water and some cornstarch to the pan. 

The rabbit should be dark and crunchy on the outside, the front legs will be dry, but very moist and tender on thigh and breast. The “sella” or filet is exquisite even without the salty crust. The fennel is almost overwhelming as a scent but not as a flavor, hot, sweet, very wild-- dense and desperate.

This recipe originates from Lazio, so drink a Lazio red wine like a Cesanese.

Notes

1. pancetta or guanciale, or bacon, or lard. Duck fat would work too. I happen to have Corsican guanciale that is wild fennel-y and almost smoky and syrupy. It is great for this recipe. A Lardo di Colonnata might lose to wild fennel.

2. Olives, Green or Black, salty and wet. Martini olives are actually fine. I use my own, salt-cured black.

3.wild fennel. This grows in my yard 8 feet tall. The flowers, seeds and leaves are used here, not the root. The flowers and seeds should be dried, the leaves or stems should be fresh. Otherwise just grab handfuls and chop it. Use is abundance. Commercial fennel seeds are an obvious substitute.

4. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/meat-consumption-in-america.html

Poultry is the most consumed meat in the United States. On average, each American ate 48.8 kg of chicken in 2017. Chicken has become the most popular meat, toppling beef, which was the favorite for a long time. The poultry industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the U.S. due to the increasing demand for chicken products, with companies such as Tyson Foods Inc. taking the lead. This high consumption has been attributed to shifting diets, with most people swapping beef for chicken. This shift has been attributed to health concerns that link beef to various lifestyle diseases.

 5) Price lists from Conad supermarket, November 2020

Liver 16 euro/kg, Beef steak 11/kg, rabbit 10/kg, nervetti 8,50/k, tripe 7/kg

(https://www.salumificiocosta.com/listino-prezzi)

In respect and gratitude to Anita and “Dante” Dionisi. An artist and a poet. Riposa in pace.