Would you eat rabbit? If you do or if you might, you will be happy to find several recipes for this delicacy in my newest cookbook, Flavors of al-Andalus, The Culinary Legacy of Spain. I include five distinctive recipes for dishes with rabbit: a delicious paella-type rice; rabbit with pasta and fava beans; rabbit cooked with figs and Mudéjar spices; braised in a wine marinade, and with sierra herbs.
I included recipes for rabbit because in al-Andalus, Moorish Spain, it was a popular meat. Also, I wanted to provide some variation to the much more common chicken (there are also five chicken recipes). If you don’t eat rabbit (besides the pet bunny factor, rabbit is not a kosher meat), I state clearly that you can substitute chicken for rabbit in any of the recipes. And, vice versa.
In America, the meat is appreciated by chefs and you are more likely to find rabbit on a restaurant menu than in your favorite supermarket. Limited availability may be the main reason rabbit is not more widely appreciated.
Spain eats rabbit with no qualms. Rabbit is a main ingredient in authentic Valencia paella. It can be fried up with tons of garlic, al ajillo; braised in salmorejo, an herby, vinegary sauce; grilled over coals and served with pungent garlic alioli sauce.
The name “Spain” may be related to its native rabbits. By 1000 BCE Phoenician traders were establishing trading posts on the coasts of Málaga and Cádiz. They called the land i-shphan-im, from which was derived "Hispania" (Roman) and "España". One of the meanings attributed to the Phoenician phrase is “land filled with rabbits.”
Wild rabbits have been hunted and trapped since time immemorial, providing a welcome source of protein for rural people and a pleasant sport for the nobility (falconry was popular in Moorish times). The animals have been domesticated since Roman times. Farm-raised rabbit can be found year-round in supermarkets everywhere in Spain.
Rabbit and hare belong to the Leporidae family; they are not rodents. Rabbit is a lean white meat with a mild flavor (hare has dark meat and is fairly gamey). Because it has little fat, rabbit has a tendency, similarly to chicken breasts, to be dry if overcooked. Sometimes in butchering, it is hacked into small pieces, creating nasty bone fragments. If possible, buy a whole rabbit and cut it up yourself. Rabbit is more likely to be raised on a small-scale, making it a more environmentally friendly meat than factory chicken.
Rabbit with Mustard Sauce
Conejo en Salsa de Mostaza
 |
| Tender rabbit cooks in a creamy sauce with mustard. |
This is a Spanish adaptation of a French recipe, lapin à la moutarde. It reminds me of the spicing used in medieval Spain, when mustard seed was more commonly used than it is in Spain today. The Greek yogurt makes a creamy substitute for crême fraiche.
In Spain a saucy dish such as this would probably be served with patatas fritas—fries. But this rabbit dish is equally good with pasta, polenta, pilaf, or couscous.
Serves 4.
1 rabbit (approx. 2 ½ pounds)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic
4 ounces sliced mushrooms
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
½ cup dry Sherry
1 cup chicken stock
Bay leaf, thyme and rosemary
2 carrots, thickly sliced
6 small onions
½ cup Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon cornstarch
¼ cup Dijon mustard
Chopped parsley to serve
Cut the rabbit at the joints into 6-8 pieces. Keep the liver and kidneys too. Sprinkle the pieces with salt and pepper and allow to come to room temperature.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil on medium in a heavy pan and brown the rabbit pieces on all sides. Remove them.
Add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and sauté the onion, celery, garlic and mushrooms until onions are softened, 5 minutes. Add the mustard seeds. Deglaze the pan with the Sherry and cook off the alcohol, 1 minute. Add the stock and herbs. Return the rabbit pieces to the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover the pan, and cook 20 minutes.
 |
| Remove cooked rabbit from pan while making sauce. |
Turn the pieces of rabbit and add the carrots and onions. Cook until rabbit is very tender, 20 to 30 minutes more.
Remove the rabbit pieces, carrots and onions from the pan. Discard the herbs. Stir the yogurt with the cornstarch until smooth. Mix into the mustard. Whisk into the juices remaining in the pan. Cook 2 minutes until the sauce begins to bubble. Return the rabbit pieces to the pan.
Serve the rabbit with carrot and onion and the sauce. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
 |
| Finish rabbit in creamy mustard sauce. |
More recipes with rabbit:
This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking.
Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times. (Hippocrene Books)
Order on IndiePubs (USA)
Use PROMO CODE HIPPOCRENE40 for 40% off on all Hippocrene titles at IndiePubs online bookstore.
***
Order on amazon (USA)
(If you order on Amazon, please give my book a review!)
***
