Tim Maddams
LATIN NAME
Brown hare: Lepus europaeus. Mountain hare: Lepus timidus. Irish hare: Lepus timidus hibernicus
ALSO KNOWN AS
Mountain hare: blue hare
SEASONALITY
Brown hare: Scotland and Isle of Man 1 October–31 January; Northern Ireland 12 August–31 January; England and Wales no closed season with the exception of moorland and unenclosed land. Mountain hare: Scotland 1 August–28 February (or 29); species rarely found elsewhere
HABITAT
Brown hare: lowland meadows and downlands. Mountain hare: mountains and high moorland
SOURCING
There are three different types of hare living wild in the British Isles: brown hare, mountain hare and the rare Irish hare. Many mountain hare are considered pests in the highlands where they live, and shot as a matter of course. Brown hare were, until recently, in decline but numbers are now on the increase and an abundance in certain areas has led to some small-scale shooting.
The hanging time for hare should be kept to a minimum or it becomes overly gamey: 3 days should be more than enough to tenderise the meat but keep it fresh and sweet.
Hare can be bought skinned, gutted and jointed from online suppliers or butchers. If you are acquiring your hare ‘in the fur’, from a game dealer or local hunter, it will come with the skin on, head and feet attached, and with the guts still in. Hare, unlike rabbit, is hung entire, in order to preserve the blood, which is traditionally used to thicken the liquid the hare is cooked in (as in ‘jugged hare’). It also makes a very tasty blood pudding (you will need the blood from 3–4 hares for this). The blood collects in the chest cavity and can be drained off by carefully opening the belly area before removing the guts.
Be sure to remove the guts before attempting to skin the hare, otherwise a rather foul-smelling explosion can occur. Once skinned, joint the hare into saddle, haunches and shoulders – follow the same technique as for rabbit.
The meat of the hare is richer and deeper in flavour and more delicate in texture than rabbit – more like venison, in fact. The saddle roasts very well, as long as you serve it medium rare: you only need to oil and season it, brown it well then put it in the oven at 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6 for 8–10 minutes. The shoulders and haunches require more prolonged cooking – in a stew, braise or confit. I usually cook the shoulders slowly under butter or olive oil, with a little star anise, rosemary and pepper, then shred the meat and recombine it with some of the fat to make hare rillettes.
This is lovely spooned over ‘wet’ polenta. To fit into the casserole, the hare needs to be jointed into fairly small pieces: cut the back legs in half at the knee, the saddle into 3 portions, and the front legs in half if they are large. Serves 6–8
A little olive or rapeseed oil
250g pancetta or streaky bacon, cut into large lardons
2 large onions, sliced
3 large carrots, halved lengthways and cut into 2cm pieces
4 celery stalks, cut into 2cm pieces
8–10 sage leaves
6 sprigs of thyme
4 small sprigs of rosemary
3–4 tbsp plain flour
1 hare, jointed into 9–11 pieces
A glass of red wine
2.5 litres game or chicken stock
20g dark chocolate, chopped
Sea salt and black pepper
Set a large frying over a medium-high heat, and add a trickle of oil. Add the bacon and cook for about 10 minutes, until well browned, then transfer it to a large flameproof casserole dish, using a slotted spoon.
Add the onions, carrots, celery and herbs to the casserole and sweat over a medium heat for 6–8 minutes, stirring regularly.
Return the frying pan to a medium heat. Season the flour and use to dust the hare pieces, shaking off any excess. Fry them, in batches, in the residual bacon fat, until golden on all sides, adding them to the casserole as they are done.
Over a medium-low heat, deglaze the frying pan with the wine, scraping up any sediment, and let it simmer for a minute or two. Add the liquor to the casserole. Pour in the stock, cover and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a very low simmer. Set the lid ajar a little and cook for 2½–3½ hours, until the meat is lovely and tender. Take the hare pieces out of the pan.
Add the chocolate to the sauce and stir until melted, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Take off the heat; keep warm. When the hare is cool enough to handle, pull all the meat off the bones and fold it through the sauce. Serve spooned over ‘wet’ polenta.