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Jugged Hare

A hare stewed with stock, butter, bacon, herbs, and spices in a jar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Jugged Hare

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the hare

  1. Cut the hare into joints and season with pepper, coarse sea salt, and cayenne.

  2. Melt 2 ounces of butter in a pan and fry the hare and bacon until browned.

Stew

  1. Place the hare and bacon in a wide-mouthed jar and cover it.

  2. Add the stock and place in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 20 to 30 minutes.

  3. Put the onion, herbs, and spices in a muslin bag and tie it up.

  4. Add the bag to the jar and stew for 3 hours.

Thicken and finish

  1. Melt an additional ounce of butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour until smooth.

  2. Slowly stir the flour mixture into the contents of the stew jar.

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 + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

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

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Marjoram + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Parsley + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

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

  5. Marjoram + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,075 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

Hare
Provides the rich meat that becomes tender during the long, slow stew.
Flour
Thickens the stock into a smooth, body-rich sauce when cooked with butter.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, helping the flour form a smooth roux for thickening.
Bacon
Adds savory fat and smoky flavor that enriches the stewing liquid.
Strong stock
Supplies the liquid base that cooks the hare and carries the overall flavor.

The step that matters

Stirring the flour mixture into the stew. Flour clumps if added straight to hot liquid. Cooking it in butter first and stirring slowly into the stew keeps the sauce smooth and evenly thickened.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, thyme, marjoram, parsley, celery, butter, clove):

  1. Winter savoryfits better
  2. Sagefits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, thyme, marjoram, parsley, celery, butter, clove. 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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