Why it works: Pork and liver are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,606 recipes. Both carry 1-nonanal, which smells fatty, waxy. The science ↓
Roasted Hare
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Spit the hare whole and prepare a sauce with the blood, liver, lights, vinegar, shallots, salt, and pepper.
Roast and baste
Cook the sauce with hot coals placed under the dripping pan while the hare roasts.
Baste the hare with the sauce during roasting.
To finish cooking, light a piece of fat meat wrapped in paper and let the fat drip over the roast.
Ensure the hare is not overcooked.
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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Pork + livertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,606 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).
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Shallot + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,898 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Vinegar + shallottop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,374 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pork + shallottop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,316 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Hare
- Provides the main meat, which turns tender and juicy when roasted slowly over heat.
- Blood
- Thickens the sauce and adds body and a rich, savoury flavour.
- Liver
- Adds depth and richness to the sauce, helping it cook into a fuller texture.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the richness of the blood and liver.
- Pork or bacon fat
- Adds fat that drips over the roast, contributing moisture and savoury browning.
The step that matters
Ensure the hare is not overcooked. Lean game meat dries out quickly once its proteins tighten with prolonged heat, so it should be checked and removed as soon as it is cooked through.
Swap the shallot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, liver, vinegar, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Onionfits better
- Shallotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, liver, vinegar, 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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