Title: Lievre A La Royale Pt 1
Categories: Main dish, French, Game, Cerebral
Yield: 8 servings
6 lb Hare
3 tb Goose fat
1 lb Fat bacon rashers
1 lb Bacon (whole)
6 fl Red wine vinegar
2 Bottles Medoc or Macon
1 md Carrot
4 md Onions stuck with
4 Cloves
20 cl Garlic
40 Shallots
1 Bouquet garni
Salt & pepper
"This famous recipe for lievre a la royale was invented by Senator
Couteaux, who contributed regular articles to the Paris newspaper Le
Temps. On November 29, 1898, instead of his usual political column,
appeared this remarkable recipe. M. Couteaux related at length how he
had spent a week in Poitou hunting the right kind of hare; how, the
exactly suitable animal at last in his hands, he instantly took the
train to Paris, sent out his invitations, and hurried off to consult
his friend Spuller, who ran a well known restaurant in the Rue
Favart, to arrange the preparation and cooking of his hare for the
following day.
The dish takes from noon until 7 o'clock to prepare and cook, and
Senator Couteaux tells how by 6 o'clock the exquisite aroma had
penetrated the doors of Spuller's restaurant, floated down the street
and out into the boulevard, where the passers by sniffed the scented
air; an excitable crowd gathered, and the whole quartier was 'mis en
emoi'. If you ever feel like devoting the time (perhaps you need not
after all spend a week catching your hare) and the ingredients to
cooking this dish you will see that the senator was not exaggerating.
I have translated the recipe as faithfully as possible. It is very
lengthy and there are repetitions. But in those days there was plenty
of space to fill up; and from the senator's precise instructions one
can well imagine the delightful old gentleman bending over his
'daubiere', and the pride with which he presented this beautiful
creation to his gourmet friends." ED
Ingredients
'You require a male hare, with red fur, killed if possible in
mountainous country; of fine French descent (characterized by the
light nervous elegance of head and limbs), weighing from 5 to 6
pounds, that is to say older than a leveret but still adolescent. The
important thing is that the hare should have been cleanly killed and
so not have lost a drop of blood. 'The fat to cook it: 2 or 3
tablespoons of goose fat. 1 lb of fat bacon rashers;
1 lb of bacon in one piece.
'Liquid: 6 oz of good red wine vinegar.
Two bottles of Macon or Medoc, whichever you please, but in any
case not less than 2 years old.
'Utensils: A daubiere, or oblong stewing pan, of well tinned copper, 8
inches high, 15 inches long, 8 inches wide and possessed of a
hermetically closing cover; a small bowl in which to preserve the
blood of the hare, and later to stir it when it comes to
incorporating it in the sauce; a doublehandled vegetable chopper; a
large shallow serving dish; a sieve; a small wooden pestle. 'The wine
to serve: Preferably a St Julien or Moulin a Vent.
'Preliminary Preparations
'Skin and clean the hare. Keep aside the heart, the liver, and the
lungs. Keep aside also and with great care the blood. (It is
traditional to add 2 or 3 small glasses of fine old cognac to the
blood; but this is not indispensable; M. Couteaux finally decided
against this addition.)
'In the usual way prepare a medium carrot, cut into four; 4 medium
onions each stuck with a clove; 20 cloves of garlic; 40 cloves of
shallot; a bouquet garni, composed of a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme,
and some pieces of parsley. 'Get ready some charcoal in large pieces,
which you will presently be needing. burning hot.
'First Operation (from half past twelve until four o'clock)*
'At 12.30 coat the bottom and sides of the stewpan with the goose
fat; then at the bottom of the pan arrange a bed of rashers of bacon.
'Cut off the head and neck of the hare: leaving only the back and the
legs. Then place the hare at full length on the bed of bacon, on its
back. Cover it with another layer of bacon. Now all your bacon
rashers are used up.
'Now add the carrot; the onions; the 20 cloves of garlic; the 40
cloves of shallot;** the bouquet garni. 'Pour over the hare: (i) the
6 oz of red wine vinegar, and (ii) a bottle and a half of 2 year old
Macon (or Medoc). 'Season with pepper and salt in reasonable quantity.
'At one o'clock. The daubiire being thus arranged, put on the lid and
set the fire going (either a gas stove or an ordinary range). On the
top of the lid place 3 or 4 large pieces of charcoal in an
incandescent state, well alight and glowing. 'Regulate your heat so
that the hare may cook for 3 hours, over a gentle and regular fire,
continuously.
Recipe Senator Couteaux "Le Temps" 29 Nov 1898 Translated Elizabeth
David
MMed IMH Georges' Home BBS 2:323/4.4
