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Rabbit, Turban of

A stuffed rabbit dish with forcemeat and ham slices, baked in a pastry case.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Rabbit, Turban of

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the rabbit

  1. Skin, empty, and wash the rabbits.

  2. Cut along the backbone and lift the flesh into fillets.

  3. Remove the legs and bones, then halve the flesh lengthwise.

  4. Lard the fillets with bacon strips.

  5. Mince the remaining meat and mix with an equal weight of fat and lean bacon, bread crumbs, pepper, and salt.

  6. Bind with egg yolks.

Make the paste case

  1. In a bowl, combine flour and make a hollow.

  2. Stir in boiling water mixed with lard and salt.

  3. Work into a smooth, stiff paste.

  4. Shape the paste into a circular case, 2 to 3 inches high.

  5. Brush with egg yolk.

  6. Fill with flour, and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until set.

  7. Let cool, remove flour, and spread forcemeat inside.

Assemble and bake

  1. Fill with leg meat, place fillets on top, and add ham slices for decoration.

  2. Wrap in oiled paper and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven.

  3. Remove paper and crisp the top with a salamander or hot shovel for 3-4 minutes.

  4. Pour gravy into the center.

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. Bread + hamtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  2. Rabbit + flourtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).

  3. Rabbit + hamtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together273 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Rabbits
Provide the lean meat that forms the fillets and forcemeat filling.
Fat bacon strips
Lard the fillets, adding moisture and richness to the lean rabbit meat.
Bread crumbs
Bind the minced forcemeat and help it hold moisture as it cooks.
Egg yolks
Bind the forcemeat and enrich it, helping it set when baked.
All-purpose flour
Forms the stiff paste that shapes the case and holds the filling.
Lard
Adds fat to the paste, tenderising the crust.

The step that matters

Baking the paste case until set. The case must be fully set and cooled before the forcemeat goes in. Baking it firm, with flour filling it to hold its shape, keeps the walls from slumping or softening when the filled pie bakes again.

“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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