COOKERY OF THE HARE 239 



subject, that wounded game retrieved after a day's 

 suffering is only fit for the game stockpot. This, too, 

 is the only alternative to adopt in regard to that which 

 has been badly shot, after the better parts have been 

 chosen for the extraction of fiimet or essence, an 

 invaluable medium for the improvement of game 

 sauces, salmis^ and soups. 



Touching the questions, then, of selection and 

 quality. If we search the literature of cookery of the 

 present century, it is surprising how little we find 

 recorded on this important point. Grimod de la 

 Reyniere laid down that the hare of the mountains 

 was better than her sister of the plains. Brillat 

 Savarin's opinion was that while a hare killed in the 

 neighbourhood of Paris seemed but a poor dish, a 

 leveret from the sunny slopes of Val Romey in Ain, 

 or the highlands of Dauphine, might be pronounced 

 the finest flavoured of all quadrupeds. M. Gogue, 

 an able French chef, pronounced in favour of mountain 

 hares that had fed upon wild thyme and other wild, 

 aromatic plants ; and M. Servais, a Belgian writer, 

 said the same, adding like a good sportsman, that one 

 well shot should be chosen before one caught in a 

 snare, or bagged by any other means. Finding after 

 a diligent search no more information than this, and 

 absolutely nothing regarding English hares, I boldly 



