[Sensitive souls might want to skip this post.]
Yes, I like bunnies. I like to eat them. I know that my appetite for rabbit is not shared by many Americans, some of whom were traumatized by the “pets or meat” scene in Michael Moore’s first film, Roger and Me. Below are three reasons why you might want to change your opinion.
Rabbit is a relatively lean meat. And yes, it does taste a bit like chicken.
Rabbits are very efficient at turning food into meat, which makes the meat a more sustainable choice than beef or pork. An article from Modern Farmer (link here) says that a rabbit can produce six pounds of meat with the same input of feed and water as it takes a steer to produce one pound of meat. They also grow and reproduce more rapidly than a steer.
Rabbits don’t need a heavy corn and soy diet to pack on the meat.
Finding rabbit meat isn’t easy here, although many upscale groceries will carry it in the freezer case. If you’re feeding a family, you may need more than one rabbit. It’s not cheap, as America doesn’t have mass rabbit feedlot operations the way it does for beef cattle. Many recipes for rabbit involve stewing because the meat is so lean. Most of the rabbit dishes I’ve eaten in France are stews. You can adapt any recipe for smothered chicken to use rabbit. I’ve also seen rabbit used in Creole/Cajun recipes. Hey, it beats nutria.
Probably the easiest way to consume rabbit is to order it off a menu. Last week at our neighborhood McMenamins I had a rabbit confit with pea shoots. It was quite tasty. Next time you see rabbit on a restaurant menu, take a chance and order it.
Recent Comments