Are You Game?
Labels: she cooks
Monday, October 23, 2006
It's game season at the moment. No, not the games people play - those happen year round. I'm referring to the likes of rabbit, deer, duck, partridge, pheasant, wild boar. Yum!
We've been living in Europe for nearly 5 years now and in that time, I've had the pleasure of eating all of the above.
The first time I tasted wild boar was in Tuscany, Italy. We stayed at a vineyard and within the huge expanse of the compound there were a couple of farm animals including wild boars,wandering about. Now, I grew up reading Asterix & Obelix comic books and these Gauls ate wild boars all the time. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw the critters up close and personal. Of course they couldn't care less, preferring instead to direct their attention with whatever was in the foliage around them.
Later that evening, when I saw boar on the hotel's menu, I ordered it without hesitation. I was determined to eat what Asterix ate. After my first bite, I finally saw what all the fuss was about. It was really, really good! So there I was, happily tucking in until a thought occurred to me - where did the wild boar come from? Oooops.... please don't tell me I was looking at dinner face to face earlier in the afternoon! The horror! I felt really bad. However, I'm so embarrassed to say this but my guilt was assuaged by the next mouthful. The chef just did too good a job with it.
But that was 7 years ago, on our honeymoon.
Now, let me take you to last Saturday. My husband and I were at the fresh meat section of the supermarket wondering what to do for The Sunday Dinner when we noticed the deer and rabbit filets. After some contemplation, we decided on the rabbit. This was what I did with it:
It's not so difficult to cook. First I laid out the filets on a hot grill. Then I sprinkled some ground sea salt, garlic and pepper over them. Next, I seared all the sides to seal in the flavour and moisture before lowering the flame for it to cook. It's best not to overcook rabbit lest they become dry and stringy. While the filet was cooking, I went on to prepare the vegetables and Port sauce.
This leads me to the time when I ate rabbit for the first time. We were in a restaurant in Stein (I think) and my husband was urging me to try the rabbit. I was rather hesitant, telling him no, I couldn't bear to eat those cute little animals. He tells me no, these are not the same fluffy rabbits people keep as pets, these are great big *bleep* *bleep* (censored here for strong language) that run around the forests. I relented and have not looked back since. Once you get over the mental image, they are really rather delectable morsels.
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 12:42 pm
As for rabbits...do you remember White Bear (who incidentally isn't a rabbit?)
: October 24, 2006 6:03 am