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Galantine of Rabbit

A stuffed rabbit rolled and braised, then set in clarified stock to form a jelly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 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 ↓

Galantine of Rabbit

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the rabbits

  1. Bone the rabbits, leaving the heads intact, and remove a little meat from the insides.

  2. Chop the removed meat very small.

  3. Mix the chopped meat with the minced bacon, herbs, truffles, salt, and pepper to make the forcemeat.

  4. Lay the rabbits open, skin side down.

  5. Spread a thin layer of forcemeat on the rabbits.

  6. Layer the rabbits with ham, bacon, truffles, more forcemeat, and slices of ham until filled.

  7. Roll the rabbits back into their original shape.

  8. Tie the rabbits securely with string.

Braise

  1. Place slices of bacon at the bottom of a saucepan.

  2. Add the rabbits to the saucepan.

  3. Surround the rabbits with carrots, onions, laurel leaves, thyme, parsley, salt, and pepper.

  4. Pour enough stock and white wine to moisten the rabbits.

  5. Cover the rabbits with bacon slices and well-buttered paper.

  6. Cook slowly on low heat until the meat is tender.

  7. After 30 minutes off the heat, remove the paper and bacon.

Clarify and set

  1. Transfer the rabbits to a dish.

  2. Strain the cooking liquid into another saucepan.

  3. Skim the liquid and add whipped egg white to clarify.

  4. Pour the clarified liquid over the rabbits.

  5. Let the liquid cool and set into a jelly.

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

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Laurel + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,444 recipes

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

  3. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

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

  4. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  5. Carrot + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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 is rolled, braised and served as the galantine.
Minced bacon
Adds fat to the forcemeat, keeping the lean meat moist and tender.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma to the braising liquid.
Whipped egg white
Collects impurities from the cooking liquid so it becomes clear for the jelly.
Truffles
Add a strong earthy aroma to the forcemeat and filling.

The step that matters

Cook slowly on low heat until the meat is tender. Gentle heat lets the connective tissue soften into gelatin without the meat drying out or toughening. Rapid boiling makes the meat tough and cloudies the stock needed for a clear jelly.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rabbit, truffle, pepper, carrot, laurel, thyme, parsley):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Turnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rabbit, truffle, pepper, carrot, laurel, thyme, parsley. 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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