Civet de Liebre Catalán

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Nonreactive marinating container with a lid
• •Wide heavy casserole or Dutch oven, 28 to 30cm
• •Fine-mesh sieve or food mill
• •Large mortar and pestle or small blender
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Marinate the hare

   Put the hare pieces in a nonreactive container with the wine, onions, carrots, leek, 4 crushed garlic cloves, bay, thyme, and peppercorns. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours, turning the pieces once. Mix the blood with the vinegar in a separate covered container and keep it at 0 to 4°C. If the butcher has already acidulated the blood, don't add the vinegar twice.

   Use blood only when the butcher can confirm that it came from an inspected carcass and was collected and chilled hygienically. If its handling is uncertain, discard it and use the liver variation.
2. 2

   Drain and dry

   Lift out the hare and strain the marinade, keeping the wine and vegetables in separate bowls. Retrieve the bay and thyme. Pat every piece thoroughly dry, then season the meat with 10g of the salt. Wet meat stews before it browns, and that pale beginning gives the whole pot a thinner taste.

3. 3

   Brown meat and liver

   Heat the lard in a wide heavy casserole over medium-high heat. Brown the hare in batches for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until it has a deep chestnut crust, then set it aside. Brown the reserved hare liver for 1 minute per side and remove it. If you're making the bloodless variation, brown the chicken livers for 2 minutes per side as well; they will finish cooking in the sauce.

4. 4

   Build the sofregit

   Lower the heat to medium-low and add the drained vegetables with the remaining 6g salt. Cook for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is dark gold, soft, and almost jammy. Add the tomato and cook for another 12 to 15 minutes, until its water is gone and the fat shows around the edges. This is the sofregit, the slow Catalan onion and tomato base. Rush it and the wine stays sharp instead of becoming a sauce.

5. 5

   Braise without hurry

   Pour in the brandy and scrape the browned residue from the bottom. Let it reduce for 2 minutes. Add the reserved marinade wine and boil it steadily for 8 minutes, then add the stock, bay, thyme, and browned hare. Bring it just to a simmer, cover with the lid slightly ajar, and cook over low heat for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes. Turn the pieces every 30 minutes. The meat is ready when a fork enters the thickest leg easily and the flesh begins to release from the bone; it must be fully cooked, never pink.

   The saddle often becomes tender before the legs. Check it after 75 minutes and remove it if ready, then return it once the sauce is finished.
6. 6

   Pass and reduce sauce

   Transfer the tender hare to a covered dish and discard the bay and thyme. Pass the cooking liquid and vegetables through a food mill, or press them firmly through a fine sieve. Return the smooth sauce to the casserole, skim off excess surface fat, and boil gently for 10 to 20 minutes until about 700ml remains. It should lightly coat a spoon before the blood goes in, because you cannot reduce it hard afterward.

7. 7

   Pound the picada

   Pound the browned hare liver, almonds, hazelnuts, toasted bread, remaining 2 garlic cloves, and grated chocolate into a close paste, adding 150ml of the hot sauce a little at a time. A small blender works if you don't have a mortar. Stir the picada, the Catalan nut-and-bread thickener, into the casserole and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Return the hare and warm it in the sauce for 5 minutes.

8. 8

   Bind with blood

   Take the casserole off the heat and wait until the bubbling stops. Whisk 150ml of hot sauce gradually into the acidulated blood, beginning one spoonful at a time. Pour this mixture back into the casserole while stirring constantly. Return it to the lowest heat and bring the sauce evenly to 72 to 74°C for 5 minutes, stirring and never allowing it to simmer. The blood will darken the sauce and give it a smooth, close gloss. Boil it and it turns grainy and tastes harsh. This is the step that decides the civet.

   For the bloodless variation, pound the browned chicken livers into the picada, simmer it for the full 10 minutes, and stir in 10ml of the vinegar at the end. The sauce will be rich but less glossy, with less of the mineral depth that belongs to a true civet.
9. 9

   Rest and serve

   Remove the casserole from the heat and rest the civet for 15 minutes. The sauce should cling to each piece and settle into a dark mahogany pool around it. Serve with plain boiled potatoes, mashed potato, or sturdy country bread. Keep the accompaniments quiet; the hare has already done the talking.

Chef Tips

• •Buy hare in its legal autumn or winter season from a game dealer with good turnover. Frozen dressed hare is perfectly sound and often easier to find far from Catalonia; thaw it slowly in the refrigerator before marinating.
• •Inspect every joint for shot and bruised tissue before it enters the marinade. If you dress a hunted hare yourself, wear gloves and follow local game-health advice. Don't use an animal that appeared sick.
• •Wild rabbit is the nearest substitute a Catalan kitchen would use. For a 1.6kg rabbit, keep the same sauce quantities but shorten the covered braise to about 60 to 90 minutes. Farmed rabbit will be paler, gentler, and quicker still.
• •Use a dry Garnatxa, Carinyena, or an uncomplicated red from Montsant. It needn't be an expensive bottle, but it must be sound enough to drink. Sweet wine or heavy oak will sit on the sauce and never quite leave.
• •Ten grams of dark chocolate is enough. You shouldn't taste chocolate as a separate flavor; it rounds the bitter edge of the blood and wine. Add a handful and you've made pudding with a hare in it.
• •Serve the civet with boiled potatoes, mashed potato, or bread that can carry the sauce. A fresh, firm Catalan red alongside suits it better than a very alcoholic bottle.

Advance Preparation

• •Marinate the hare for 12 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. Longer than 24 hours makes the surface mealy without doing much more for an old animal.
• •For a dinner party, braise the hare and pass the sauce one day ahead, then refrigerate the meat in the sauce. Reheat it gently, make the picada, and add the blood shortly before serving.
• •Once the blood has been added, reheat leftovers below a simmer and stir often. Keep them covered in the refrigerator for no more than 2 days; hard boiling will spoil the sauce's smooth texture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)