CHAPTER X.

GIBIER A POIL.-RUNNING GAME.

198. Sanglier (Wild Boar).

Sometimes it is so tough that it is impossible to use it at all; but if the boar is young, it may be eaten after a week. The tusks of an old boar are long and curved.

Boars are to be cut and cleaned like pigs; the fillets and ribs are to be roasted; the head is to be prepared like a pig's head (see Index).

199. Fambon de sanglier bouilli (Boiled Leg of Boar).

Lard it with square, rather large, bits of bacon, salt and pepper it, and put it in highly-salted water for four or five days, with thyme, bay-leaves, onions, cayenne pepper, a few juniper-berries and sage leaves. When ready to boil it take it out of the water, wipe it, and sew it up in a clean towel; then set it in a pot, and put with it the water in which it was at first; add half a bottle of white Burgundy or Bordeaux wine, four large carrots and onions cut in slices, eight cloves and a bunch of parsley. Let it boil on a quick fire for six hours; take the pan off the fire and let the leg cool in it. When cold, take it out of the towel, and serve either at breakfast, lunch, or supper.

If the leg of wild boar is wanted for a dinner, proceed as above, and, instead of boiling it, roast it before a moderate fire, and serve hot, with a sauce piquante (see No. 54).

The shoulder may be cooked in the same way; either boiled or roasted.

200. Chevreuil (Deer).

The leg of a deer is the best part. Put it (after larding it) in a pot with a pint of vinegar, salt, pepper, cloves, garlic, bay-leaves, thyme, and a little grated nutmeg. Let it remain for four days, turning it over every day, and roast it like a leg of mutton; serve with a sauce piquante to which you add the gravy from the roast.

The cutlets are to be beaten and larded, then put in a pan with six ounces of butter, two carrots, and three onions cut in slices; when the cutlets are firm, add a tumbler of water and a spoonful of flour; mix well. Put some red-hot charcoal on the top of the pan which you remove to a corner of the fire, and let the cutlets simmer slowly for half an hour; dish them; let the gravy boil fast and take off the lid of the pan. When the gravy is thick enough squeeze into it half of the juice of a lemon and pour it upon the cutlets.

201. Civet de chevreuil.

See Civet de lièvre, No. 204.

202. Lièvre (Hare).

It is only young hares which may be roasted, and it is easy to know the young from the old ones in touching the articulations of the fore-legs. If you feel two small bones moving under your fingers, the hare is not above a year old.

203. Lièvre roti (Roasted Hare).

Lard it and roast it before the fire (an hour is sufficient). Take the liver, two shalots, a little parsley, and chop them together; put them in a pan with four ounces of fresh butter and a spoonful of flour; mix with a wooden spoon; add a tumbler of white Burgundy or Bordeaux wine, a little salt and pepper, and let it boil for ten minutes. When ready to serve the hare, pour its juice into the sauce, which is to be served separately.

If you find it difficult to lard for want of firmness in the flesh, put the hare for a few seconds before a very brisk fire; then let it cool and it will be easy to lard it symmetrically.

204. Civet de lièvre.

Put six ounces of butter into a pan with six ounces of lean bacon; when the bacon is brown take it out of the pan. Cut the hare in neat pieces and put them in the pan; when they are of a nice colour take them out of the pan and put in their stead twenty small onions, which you also take out when of a light brown. Mix a tablespoonful of flour with the butter, pour a

quart of water into the pan; add a handful of mushrooms, three large truffles, a little garlic, salt, pepper, a bay-leaf, a little thyme, and some parsley. Put the bacon back into the pan and let the whole boil quickly for half an hour. Reduce your fire, put the hare in the pan and cover it. Let it boil slowly for another half hour; then add two tumblers of good red Burgundy and the blood of the hare. Let it simmer for another half hour; put the onions in the pan and let them simmer for half an hour. Toast some bread, put the bits of hare upon it and keep them warm. Set the sauce on a brisk fire, take the lid off the pan and let it boil quickly for five minutes, then pour it upon the hare.

Mushrooms and truffles are not indispensable, but they improve the taste wonderfully.

When you clean the hare for a civet, be careful to keep the blood in a cool place until wanted; and remember that it will not keep more than a day in

summer.

205. Levraut sauté.

For a very young hare, this will be an excellent way. Cut the hare in pieces and put it in the fryingpan with six ounces of butter, salt and pepper. Toss it over a sharp fire until it becomes of a light brown. Sprinkle upon it a spoonful of flour, and cover the fire with ashes, to let the hare boil slowly. Pour a tumblerful of white Burgundy wine upon the hare. Chop together some parsley, one shalot, and four or five mushrooms if you have any. Add them to the sauce, Let the whole boil for five minutes and serve.

You can dispense with the flour, wine, and mushrooms, but then it will be rather dry.

206. Lièvre en daube.

See Bauf à l'étuvée, No. 287, page 113.

207. Lapin (Rabbit).

If it is a tame rabbit that you wish to use, it must be cleaned as soon as it is dead, and wiped carefully inside; then filled with sage-leaves, cloves, salt, pepper, thyme, and bay-leaves.

You may dispense with this preparation, but tame rabbits often have a disagreeable taste of cabbage, which the way explained above removes entirely.

208. Gibelotte de lapin.

See Lièvre en civet (No. 204), only use white Burgundy wine instead of red, and do not keep the blood.

If you prefer not to use wine at all, put the rabbit in a panful of cold water with four table-spoonfuls of vinegar, and let it remain in it at least for an hour. Then take it out, wipe it, and when cooked (using water instead of wine), squeeze upon it the juice of a lemon.

209. Lapin rôti (Roasted Rabbit).

Lard it and roast it like hare. (See No. 203.)

210. Lapereau à la poulette.

Put four ounces of butter in a pan on a slow fire, mix with it a table-spoonful of flour, and pour upon it

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