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Rabbit and Eel, Matelote of

A rabbit and eel stew with bacon, onions, mushrooms, herbs, and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Mushroom and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,632 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol, which smells allspice, anise. The science ↓

Rabbit and Eel, Matelote of

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Skin, empty, and wash the rabbit, then cut it into small joints.

  2. If using the head, split it in half and remove the eyes.

  3. Skin and empty the eel, then cut it into short lengths.

Brown the meat and vegetables

  1. Fry the rabbit, eel, and diced bacon in hot fat until browned and half cooked.

  2. Remove the meat and set aside.

  3. In the same fat, fry the onions and mushrooms until browned.

Make the gravy and stew

  1. In a clean saucepan, mix flour with the hot fat to make a smooth paste.

  2. Moisten the paste with stock or water to create a gravy of cream-like consistency.

  3. Add the fried meat, onions, mushrooms, liver, heart, sweet herbs, and season with pepper and salt.

  4. Simmer gently until the rabbit is tender.

Finish and serve

  1. Arrange the rabbit in the center of a dish, placing the eel and bacon around it.

  2. Strain the gravy.

  3. Add wine.

  4. Boil down until smooth and thick.

  5. Pour the gravy over the meat.

  6. Serve immediately.

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. Mushroom + winetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,632 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).

  2. Onion + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,626 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Rabbit + oniontop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,292 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Thickens the fat and stock into a smooth, cream-like gravy.
Bacon
Adds fat and savoury flavour to the hot fat used for browning.
Wine
Adds acidity and aroma, and concentrates in the gravy as it boils down.
Button mushrooms
Add savoury depth and moisture as they brown in the fat.
Onions
Add sweetness and savoury depth as they brown in the fat.

The step that matters

Simmer gently until the rabbit is tender. Rapid boiling toughens meat proteins and can break up the delicate eel and cause the gravy to become cloudy. A gentle simmer lets collagen soften slowly for tender meat.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rabbit, mushroom, flour, liver, pepper, wine):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rabbit, mushroom, flour, liver, pepper, wine. 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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