THE COOKERY OF THE RABBIT 245 



parts of cold rabbits with some fine-shred suet. Get 

 some good gravy, thicken with butter and flour, and 

 season to taste with the inevitable lemon juice. Add 

 a little claret or port — ^though the strictly economical 

 may dispense with that — and a dash of chili or 

 tarragon vinegar. Stew the mince and fill the patties, 

 which had best be baked empty. 



Boudins de Richelieu probably owe their name 

 to the roue lover of the Duchesse de Berri, one of 

 the volatile daughters of the Regent Orleans. Riche- 

 lieu was as great, though scarcely so scientific, a 

 gourmet as the Regent, who was as much at home in 

 his kitchens as in his chemical laboratory ; and the 

 lady, by the way, is said to have prided herself on 

 having devised the delicate filets de lapereau. The 

 Ixmdins are made of a forcemeat of rabbit beaten up 

 with grated potatoes. Dressed onions or chopped 

 mushrooms must be mixed with the stuffing. The 

 forcemeat is rolled up in small sausages, then it is 

 boiled or baked and served with brown sauce. It is 

 the more probable that Richelieu invented these 

 boudins, that the dish survives in the French haute 

 cuisine^ and is the only form of the rabbit in cookery 

 which Dubois condescends to notice in his portly 

 volume de luxe. Possibly Dubois may have descended 

 from the disreputable Abbe and Cardinal who was 



