No. 2149

Wild Rabbit Backs, Broiled

Rables de Lapins de Garenne Grilles

Pare the backs of three field rabbits, skinned and cleaned; suppress the breasts, then season; dip them in beaten eggs, roll in bread-crumbs, and immerse in melted butter; broil for twenty minutes over a moderate fire while turning. Dress on a dish and serve with a separate sharp sauce (No. 538), or else a tartar sauce (No. 631).

← No. 2148 Gibelotte of Young Rabbits, Parmentier Rabbit, Hare & Squirrel No. 2150 Rail a la Mareille-Roasted and Broiled →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer's terse instruction covers a straightforward preparation: rabbit saddles breaded à l'anglaise and grilled. The two things that need translating are the butchery and the heat.

What a râble isThe râble is the saddle — the loin section from the last rib to the hips, left on the bone. From a whole rabbit you get one; three rabbits means three saddles. Wild saddles are small, so three may stretch only to three modest portions.
"Suppress the breasts"This means cut away the thin rib and belly flaps that trail off the loin, along with any silverskin, so what goes on the grill is a compact double loin. Reserve the trimmings for stock.
Field rabbitsLapin de garenne is the wild European rabbit. In practice you will be working with farmed rabbit, which is milder, fatter and more tender; wild rabbit, if you can get it, is leaner and benefits from a brief brine before breading.
Moderate fire, and where to put itA breaded surface over direct flame scorches before the meat is done. Grill over medium coals with the saddles set to the side of the direct heat, or use a broiler at moderate distance, roughly 6 inches from the element.
Twenty minutes is a ceiling, not a targetRabbit loin is lean and dries out fast. Check with an instant-read thermometer at the thickest part of the loin and pull at 160F; on farmed saddles this often happens closer to 12-15 minutes with turning.
Butter after crumbsThe order given — egg, crumbs, then melted butter — is deliberate. The butter soaks the crumb coat so it browns rather than steams. Clarified butter browns more evenly and is less likely to blacken.
The saucesNo. 538 is Ranhofer's sharp sauce (sauce piquante), which in the classical form is a brown sauce sharpened with vinegar and shallots and usually finished with chopped gherkin. No. 631 is a mayonnaise-based tartar. Either supplies the acidity the plain broiled meat needs; serve it alongside, not over the crust.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's compendium from his decades as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and its game chapters reflect a period when wild rabbit, hare and squirrel were ordinary market goods in American cities rather than specialist items. The name says something about the source: lapin de garenne is literally the rabbit of the warren, the wild animal, distinguished in French kitchens from the hutch-raised lapin de clapier — a distinction that mattered, since the wild animal was leaner and stronger in flavor. Breading in egg and crumbs before grilling is the classical treatment called à l'anglaise, used throughout the book on lean cuts that would otherwise dry over the fire, and the cross-references to numbered sauces are characteristic of Ranhofer's method: the book is built as a working system, with several thousand entries meant to be read against one another rather than as standalone recipes.