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RABBIT, GALANTINE OF (a breakfast, luncheon, or supper dish)
Take two plump young rabbits, cut off the heads, entirely remove the bones from both animals, and fasten slices of fat bacon over one, to cover the outer or skin side of it. Mince the flesh of the other rabbit finely, and with it an equal quantity of fat bacon, and a little pepper and powdered mace. No salt will be required, as it is probable that the bacon will be sufficiently salted. Lay the boned rabbit flat on a table, spread half the forcemeat upon it, arrange on this some strips of ham, tongue, and bacon, together with a truffle or two or a few mushrooms chopped small, if these are at hand, and spread another lay of forcemeat over all. Sew up the rabbit neatly, as nearly as possible in its original form, fasten it securely that the forcemeat, etc., may not escape, and tie it in a white cloth. Lay two or three slices of bacon at the bottom of a saucepan, place the rolled meat upon these, and add the heads and bones of the rabbit and any other bones there may be handy, together with two carrots, a large onion stuck with two cloves, a bunch of parsley, a sprig of thyme, a bay-leaf, and a little pepper and salt. Pour over these ingredients as much good stock as will barely cover them, and simmer all very gently together, carefully removing the scum as it rises, until the galantine is done enough, that is, until it can be easily pierced with a skewer. Let the galantine get cold in the liquor in which it was stewed, then lift it out. Strain the liquor, boil it down until it is so far reduced that it will form a jelly when cold, and clarify with white of egg. Pour this jelly upon plates, that it may set firm, brushing one or two coats of it over the rabbit to serve as glaze. Dish the galantine on a white napkin, and garnish with the savoury jelly, cut into dice, cubes, stars, etc. A galantine is always served cold. Time to simmer, three or four hours. Probable cost of rabbits, 7d. to 9d. per pound.
A classic galantine: one boned rabbit wrapped around a forcemeat made from the second, poached in stock and served cold in its own jelly. The work is all in the boning and the wrapping; the cooking is unattended.
- The hinge: wrap tightly, simmer gentlyThe roll must be sewn and tied so nothing escapes, and the liquid must never do more than tremble. A rolling boil splits the skin and forces the forcemeat out, and the stock clouds beyond rescue by egg white.
- TimingThree to four hours is far longer than modern practice needs. Two young rabbits boned and rolled to about 3 inches thick are done in roughly 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 hours at a bare simmer; test with a skewer through the centre, which should meet no resistance, and read 165F/74C at the core if you prefer certainty.
- RabbitFarmed rabbit, sold whole at around 2 1/2 to 3 lb, is the practical substitute for the "plump young" animals here, which may well have been wild, and is milder and fatter. Ask the butcher to bone the saddle and legs in one sheet if you have not done it before; a wild rabbit is leaner and will want more bacon fat in the forcemeat.
- The forcemeatEqual weights of rabbit flesh and fat bacon is correct and should not be reduced much: the fat is what keeps the sliced galantine from being dry and crumbly. Grind both well chilled, or pulse in a food processor with the bowl cold.
- SaltThe instruction to omit salt assumes heavily cured Victorian bacon. Modern supermarket bacon is far less salty, so fry a teaspoon of the forcemeat, taste it, and correct before the roll is sewn up.
- Cloth and vesselA scalded, wrung-out square of muslin or a clean tea towel does the job; tie at both ends and around the middle like a bolster. Use a pot in which the roll lies flat and is barely covered by stock, or the reduction later will take considerably longer.
- The jellyRabbit bones and heads give plenty of natural gelatine, so the reduced stock should set on its own; chill a spoonful on a saucer to check before clarifying. If it does not set, soften a sheet or two of leaf gelatine into the hot strained liquid rather than reducing further and making it salty.
- CoolingLetting it cool in the liquor keeps the meat moist and is worth doing, but do not leave it at room temperature for hours. Cool the pot quickly in a sink of iced water, then refrigerate overnight with a light weight on the roll to firm it for slicing.
- YieldTwo rabbits make a roll that should slice into roughly 10 to 12 generous portions cold; the book offers it as a breakfast, luncheon or supper dish rather than a dinner course.
Galantine belongs to the French cold larder, its name generally traced to old forms meaning gelatine or jelly, though the derivation is disputed, and the technique is the same one applied to boned capon, duck and veal: the skin becomes a container, the flesh becomes the stuffing, and the cooking liquor becomes the glaze and garnish. Cassell's lists it as a breakfast, luncheon and supper dish, the meals at which cold meats were commonly laid out on the sideboard, while dinner was served hot in courses. Rabbit at 7d. to 9d. a pound was a relatively cheap way to put an ornamental centrepiece on a sideboard, and until the mid-twentieth century rabbit was ordinary British meat rather than a specialist purchase; the aspic dice cut into stars, and the two coats of glaze, are the flourish that separated a galantine from a plain boiled roll of meat.