Stewed Hare

A straightforward braise written for cooks who already knew how long a hare takes. The original gives no times or quantities past the aromatics, so the notes below fill in what a modern cook needs.

• Sourcing the hareEuropean brown hare is sold frozen by game dealers; half a good-sized one is roughly 2 to 3 lb bone-in. Farmed rabbit substitutes directly but is milder and much leaner, and will be tender in appreciably less time.
• The hinge: low and slowHare is dark, sinewy muscle. After browning, the pot should barely tremble at a bare simmer, covered, for 1.5 to 2 hours until the meat pulls from the bone. A hard boil tightens the fibres and gives dry, stringy meat.
• "Spices"In Italian cookery of this period the word often covered the warm baking spices used sparingly in savoury braises: a grating of nutmeg, perhaps a little clove or cinnamon. A pinch is the likely intent, not a spice-rub quantity.
• A wineglassConventionally about 2 fl oz, a quarter cup, though the measure is imprecise. Let it bubble down almost to nothing before the broth goes in, or the finished sauce keeps a raw, sharp edge.
• Dried mushroomsDried porcini are the likeliest intent. Soak in warm water 20 to 30 minutes, lift them out rather than pouring, and add the strained soaking liquid to the braise as part of the broth. Roughly 1 oz dried stands in for 6 to 8 oz fresh.
• Bacon or salt porkThe original assumes unsmoked fatty cured pork; pancetta is the closest supermarket match. Heavily smoked American bacon will dominate the dish, and salt pork should be blanched briefly if very salty.
• Liquid and finishingAdd broth and tomato sauce to come about halfway up the meat, not to cover, and top up as it reduces. The final butter is a mount, stirred in off the heat, and it should not be allowed to boil afterwards.
• Yield and servingHalf a hare feeds three or four. Soft polenta is the usual accompaniment in northern and central Italy; the sauce, pulled from the bones, is also the classic dressing for pappardelle.