250 COOKERY OF THE HARE 



browned nicely, the butter basting being liberally 

 conducted. To serve a rable a la crane : — as soon as 

 the roasting is finished pour off the butter from the 

 drijjping-pan, and add to the gravy that will be found 

 below it four tablespoonfuls of good brown sauce 

 such as I shall next speak of, boil up in a saucepan, 

 skim, add a gill of fresh cream with the squeeze of a 

 lemon, and pour it over the rable, serving at once. 



Touching adjuncts. Of course there must be a 

 good sauce with a roast hare, the choice of which 

 will always be a matter of taste. Many do very 

 nicely, for, as Grimod de la Reyniere said, ' Cet 

 aimahle animal se met coniplaisamment a toutes sauces' 

 According to old English custom, something sw^eet and 

 vinous was the correct thing, the sweetness imparted 

 by red-currant jelly, and the vinosity by port. But 

 of late years refined taste has rebelled against strongly 

 fortified wines in cookery, and such effect as may be 

 desired from the juice of the grape is now got with 

 chablis or sauterne, or, in the case of red wine, w-ith 

 claret. French cooks seem to have always leant towards 

 a sharp sauce for both hare and venison. Thus we 

 continually find poivrade prescribed in their books, 

 and this is nothing more than the cooked marinade 

 already referred to, thickened, reduced, skimmed, and 

 finished with w^hite or red wine. Among genuine 



