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Levraut Pique, Roti, Au Cresson

A rabbit roast stuffed with lard, basted with butter, served with salted and vinegared watercress and pan juices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and watercress work together. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 465 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Levraut Pique, Roti, Au Cresson

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Prepare the rabbit by dressing, flaming, and trussing it.

  2. Stuff the fillets and thighs with lard.

Roast

  1. Roast the rabbit for 40 minutes, basting with butter.

  2. Remove the trussing and cut the ends off the legs.

Serve

  1. Serve with watercress seasoned with salt and vinegar.

  2. Serve the pan juices on the side.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Vinegar + watercresstop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together465 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Rabbit + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,448 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  4. Butter + watercresstop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together842 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Rabbit + vinegartop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together198 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rabbit
Lean meat that becomes tender and sets as it roasts, forming the main body of the dish.
Lard
Fat placed inside the lean fillets and thighs, adding moisture and richness as it melts.
Butter
Basted over the roasting rabbit, adding fat, moisture, and golden browning to the surface.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the watercress and balances the rich roasted meat.
Watercress
Fresh, peppery leaves that offset the richness of the roasted rabbit.

The step that matters

Roast the rabbit for 40 minutes, basting with butter. Rabbit is very lean and dries out quickly. Regular basting with fat keeps the surface moist and helps it brown, while avoiding overcooking keeps the meat tender.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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