Edible Boston has a feature article in its Winter issue that’s worth a read. It’s on local interest in rabbit.
In “Rabbit Redux,” Suzanne Cope gives us a window onto who’s farming it, which chefs are choosing it, how rabbit has fared over time as a New England food staple and why we might be interested in eating it.
Photo: Michael Piazza, Courtesy of Edible Boston
Personally, I flipped right to “Redux” because the most memorable meal I’ve had in a while was, in fact, rabbit (beautifully served at Oleana, but not currently on the menu). And I certainly took note that newbie chef Sarah Minton, who writes for this site, chose to take on and prepare rabbit–Fricassee de Lapin–for her Moist Heat cooking class this past Fall (see Sarah’s post “Foray into Meat“).
Tastes and trends in food are like the moon–they wax and wane regularly. Once rabbit shed its connotation of being ‘a poor person’s food’ (think, beans!), the culinary opportunities and nutritional benefits could be celebrated and given full voice, free of baggage. For meat-eaters, the ‘cute factor’ is another cultural attitude to overcome.
But, the interest is out there. Rabbit is being humanely and organically raised by local farmers and, as a budding trend in tastes, it seems to be gaining ground.