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Hare or Rabbit Soup

A soup made from hare or rabbit, bacon, onions, thyme, parsley, spices, and thickened with butter, flour, eggs, and milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mary Randolph (1762–1828) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 23 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Hare or Rabbit Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Place two hares in a pot with a piece of bacon, two chopped onions, a bundle of thyme and parsley.

  2. Add pepper, salt, pounded cloves, and mace.

  3. Add enough water to cover the ingredients.

  4. Simmer gently for three hours.

  5. Remove the thyme and parsley before thickening.

Thicken and serve

  1. Thicken the soup by stirring in a large spoonful of butter rubbed into one of brown flour, the yolks of two eggs, and half a pint of milk; stir until thickened, being careful not to curdle.

  2. Add a glass of red wine and boil a few minutes longer.

  3. Serve with the nicest parts of the hares.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

967Calories
38 gProtein
35 gFat
122 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 14 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Eggs1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Macenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Mary Randolph (1762–1828). 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. See the original page.

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. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

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

  4. Thyme + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,171 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

What each ingredient does

Hares
Provide the meat that flavours the broth and is served in the soup.
Eggs
Yolks thicken the soup and enrich it as they set gently with the milk.
Butter and flour
Butter rubbed into flour forms a roux that thickens the soup.
Milk
Adds creaminess and body to the thickened soup.
Onions
Contribute savory sweetness and depth to the broth as it simmers.

The step that matters

Thickening with egg yolks and milk. Egg yolks thicken when heated gently but curdle if they get too hot or boil. Stir constantly and keep the soup below a boil while adding the yolk and milk mixture.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, thyme, flour, milk, parsley, egg, pepper):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, thyme, flour, milk, parsley, egg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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