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To Hodge-podge a Hare

A stew of hare cooked slowly with bread crumbs, liver, bacon, anchovy, herbs, and vegetables.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 20 ingredients
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Why it works: Marjoram and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

To Hodge-podge a Hare

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the stuffing

  1. Soak the crumbs of the penny loaf in red wine.

  2. Mix the soaked crumbs with liver, bacon, anchovy, eggs, herbs, lemon juice, and seasonings.

Cook in the kettle

  1. Cut the hare into pieces and place in a pitcher with onions, salt, pepper, herbs, and butter.

  2. Seal the pitcher tightly and place it in a kettle of boiling water.

  3. Keep the kettle filled with water and let it simmer for 4-5 hours.

  4. Optionally, add lettuce, cucumbers, celery, and turnips to the kettle when first placing the hare.

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. Marjoram + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Winter savory + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together780 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Winter savory + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together455 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Marjoram + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together957 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Penny loaf crumbs
Soaked in wine, they bind the liver mixture and keep it moist.
Liver
Adds rich, dense body and savoury depth to the stuffing.
Eggs
Set when heated, helping hold the stuffing together.
Fat bacon
Melts during cooking, adding fat that keeps the mixture moist and flavourful.
Red wine
Softens the crumbs and adds acidity and aroma.
Hare (in the method)
Long, gentle simmering breaks down its connective tissue for a tender meat.

The step that matters

Keep the kettle filled with water and simmering. If the water level drops or it boils hard, the pitcher heats unevenly and the meat can dry out or toughen. Gentle, steady simmering over 4-5 hours lets the connective tissue break down slowly.

“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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