Why it works: Butter and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,856 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, pear. The science ↓
Bare Larded and Baked
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Dress the young hare and lard the middle of its back.
Roast
Cover the larded portion with buttered or oiled paper to prevent burning.
Remove the paper long enough to allow the lardoons to brown.
Serve
Serve the hare like roast hare with brown gravy and currant jelly.
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.
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Butter + curranttop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,856 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lard
- Lardoons melt and baste the meat, keeping it moist and helping the surface brown.
- Young hare
- The main meat, cooked whole so its back is larded and roasted.
- Currant jelly
- Adds sweetness and acidity to balance the rich, gamey meat.
The step that matters
Removing the paper to brown the lardoons. Paper protects the larded back from burning while it cooks, but it must come off in time for the lardoons to brown. Leaving it on too long keeps the surface pale and soft, while removing it too early risks scorching the exposed fat.
“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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