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Pigeons, Thrushes, Larks, Ortolans (Having been seasoned)
having been seasoned with pepper and salt, and (if approved) a little finely chopped parsley and lemon peel. Boil the liver, and when cold rub it down fine, and add it to some thickened and well-seasoned gravy, to which also put a little cream, lemon juice, and ketchup. Serve the rabbit with the gravy under it, taking care it is sent to table hot.
If wanted plain, omit the egg and crumbs, and make a gravy by adding water to the contents of the fryingpan, when the meat has been taken out; adding flour and butter to thicken it, and any flavouring which may be approved.
What survives here is the finishing of an egg-and-crumbed fried rabbit, plus a liver gravy that does the real work. The gravy is the part worth copying.
- The hinge: the liverBoil the liver, let it go cold, then rub it to a smooth paste before it goes into the gravy, as the recipe directs. Cold cooked liver rubs down finer than warm.
- Ketchup means mushroom or walnutIn mid-Victorian British cookery "ketchup" is a thin, dark, salty mushroom or walnut extract, not tomato. A dash of mushroom ketchup or a teaspoon of soy plus a little Worcestershire gives the intended savour; tomato ketchup does not.
- Add cream and lemon off the boilLemon juice going into a cream-enriched gravy over direct heat will curdle it. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the cream, then the juice, and do not let it return to a rolling boil.
- "Thickened and well-seasoned gravy"The recipe gives no gravy method, so a ready-made brown gravy is presumably taken for granted. A well-reduced brown chicken or veal stock, thickened with a small butter-and-flour roux, is the nearest modern equivalent.
- The plain versionFor the plain treatment the pan residues are deglazed with water and thickened with flour and butter. Pour off most of the frying fat first, or the sauce will be greasy rather than glossy.
- Gravy under, not overSauce is poured onto the dish and the crumbed pieces set on top, which will help the coating stay crisp. The recipe also insists the dish go to table hot.
- YieldThe recipe gives no quantities; as a modern guide, one rabbit of about 2 1/2 to 3 lb will serve three to four with the gravy.