The biggest hurdle?  Peter Rabbit, that wily, lovable blue-jacketed character created by naturalist and author Beatrix Potter.  Who couldn’t love him?  Who could eat his relatives?

Most recipes for rabbit come from the farm – hearty yet delicate, simple and laden with flavor. 

As it happens, the French can eat his relatives and do, all the time.  This is because on every farm in the land, rabbits have always been raised in the farmyard, their hutches in protected places where it was easy to stuff lettuce leaves and other vegetable trimmings through the grillwork, so they could nibble to their hearts’ content.  And as we know, the French are artists at coming up with delicious things to eat.  Why wouldn’t rabbit be included in that pantheon?

I make sure to have a rabbit dish included in every multi-day class I teach, because I like to introduce the unexpected, but also because I want to show how delicate and delicious it is. And, I believe it’s one of the best meats we can eat, from a culinary right up to an environmental standpoint.  Think about it.  Rabbit is tender and lean, it lends itself to myriad preparations from grilling to roasting, it’s delicious with or without sauce.  It breeds like… a rabbit, quickly, it’s a herbivore, and it contributes practically nothing to greenhouse gases.

Hurdles….

As for the hurdles, I won’t deny that rabbits have personalities. We had pet rabbits, one from the market in Le Neubourg. He began life as an adorable brown fur ball. That turned into Godzilla.  We couldn’t have known he was intended for the table and not as a pet.  A friend thought we needed a second rabbit, and Blackie showed up. The two couldn’t have been more different. As Godzilla continued to grow, he became aggressive; Blackie scampered in the garden, munched, and spent his time being adorable. We had to separate them.  One day, Blackie disappeared.  Part of our garden we share with the parish and people walk through it; I’m sure someone just picked up Blackie, recognizing his profound cuteness.  As for Godzilla, for reasons unknown a friend fell in love and we gave him to her.

As long as we had pet rabbits, I’d taken rabbit off cooking class menus; once they were gone, I put them back center stage. I continue to introduce rabbit hoping that class participants, like disciples, will go out and convince others that while we can love Peter Rabbit, he lives in a book and we’re here on planet earth.  So far, I think that is working. Rabbit often ends up being a favorite dish for everyone.

I offer you a recipe for rabbit that comes from FRENCH GRILL, knowing that many of you are year-round grill chefs.  If you’re not up for grilling at this time of year, simply follow the recipe then roast the rabbit in the oven at 435F, turning it regularly until it becomes golden, in the marinade. This should take 35 to 45 minutes.  You’ll love it, your friends and family will love it, and you’ll have a whole new culinary repertoire to explore.  (You can find rabbit in the freezer section of most upscale grocery stores. Or, you can call a favorite chef and see if she or he can order one for you.)

Recipes

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