Forloren Hare

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Roasting tin, around 30cm by 20cm
• •Large mixing bowl
• •Box grater for the onion
• •Small saucepan for the gravy
• •Whisk
• •Basting spoon
• •Sharp carving knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the forcemeat

   Combine the minced pork and beef in a large bowl. Add the grated onion, egg, milk, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and allspice. Work the mixture with your hands until it is uniform and holds together when pressed, about two minutes. The milk and breadcrumbs are what keep the loaf tender; without them, the meat cooks into a dense brick. The allspice is the Danish note in this dish, quiet but unmistakable, and the thing that separates forloren hare from an ordinary meatloaf.

   Grate the onion rather than chopping it. The juice goes into the mixture, and there are no raw crunchy pieces to work against the tender meat.
2. 2

   Shape the loaf

   Turn the mixture out into a roasting tin and shape it into an oval loaf about 25cm long and 10cm wide, slightly domed on top. The shape matters. Forloren hare is meant to echo the saddle of a roasting hare, and the oval form is part of the tradition. Flatter than a bread loaf, rounded at the ends, higher in the middle than at the edges.

3. 3

   Wrap in bacon

   Lay the streaky bacon strips crosswise over the top of the loaf, slightly overlapping each piece like roof tiles, and tuck the ends underneath. Cover the loaf completely so no pale meat shows through. The bacon bastes the meat as its fat renders, keeps it from drying in the heat, and turns into a dark crisp crust by the time the braise is done. This is not decoration. The bacon is the dish.

   Choose bacon that is streaked with fat, not lean. Lean bacon dries out and curls away from the meat. You want fat that melts and bastes.
4. 4

   Start the braise

   Heat the oven to 200C. Dot the 30g of butter in small pieces around the loaf in the roasting tin. Pour the stock in around the base of the loaf, not over the top, so the bacon stays dry and has a chance to crisp. Slide the tin into the oven and set a timer for fifteen minutes. The high heat at the start gives the bacon its first kiss of color before the long slow cook begins.

5. 5

   Slow braise and baste

   After the first fifteen minutes, lower the oven to 175C and continue to cook for another hour, basting the loaf with the pan juices every twenty minutes. The basting builds the flavor of both the meat and the gravy. Each spoonful of liquid you draw over the bacon collects meat juices and returns them to the pan, and the stock slowly concentrates into something dark and savory. The loaf is done when a skewer pushed into the centre comes out with clear juices, and the bacon is deep mahogany, crisp in places and yielding in others.

6. 6

   Rest the loaf

   Lift the loaf carefully onto a warm plate and cover it loosely with foil. Let it rest for at least ten minutes while you make the gravy. Don't skip this step. If you slice a hot loaf straight from the oven, the juices run out onto the board and the meat goes dry within minutes. Ten minutes of rest is the difference between a good slice and a great one. The juices settle back into the meat where they belong.

   Use the resting time to bring the potatoes and red cabbage to the table. Forloren hare waits well under foil; the sides do not.
7. 7

   Make the brun sovs

   Pour the pan juices through a sieve into a measuring jug. You should have around 400ml. If there is a thick cap of fat on top, spoon most of it off but leave a tablespoon or two for flavor. Melt the remaining 30g of butter in a saucepan and whisk in the flour. Cook this light roux gently for two minutes until it smells nutty, because raw flour tastes of paste and nothing else. Whisk in the pan juices in three stages, letting each addition come together before adding the next, then pour in the cream and let it come to a gentle simmer. It will thicken as it goes. Season with salt and pepper, add a few drops of kulor if you want the classic deep color of the Danish Sunday gravy, and stir in a spoonful of redcurrant jelly at the end. Taste it. It should be dark, savory, and a little sweet on the finish. That is brun sovs.

   If your gravy looks pale, a few drops of kulor is traditional and harmless. It is nothing more than burnt sugar, and Danish cooks have used it for generations to give brun sovs its characteristic depth of color.
8. 8

   Slice and serve

   Carve the loaf into thick slices, about two centimetres each, so you can see the pale meat surrounded by the dark bacon crust. Lay the slices on warm plates and spoon the gravy generously over and around them. Serve with boiled new potatoes, pickled red cabbage, and a small pool of redcurrant jelly on the side. The jelly is not a garnish. The sweet-sharp fruit is the counterpoint that cuts the richness of the meat and the sauce, and it is the reason this dish has stayed on Danish tables for as long as it has. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •A mix of pork and beef gives you the right texture. Pork alone is too soft, beef alone is too coarse. Together they hold the shape of the loaf and give you something closer to the richness of real game meat, which is what the dish has always been trying to suggest.
• •Allspice is not optional. It is the single spice that distinguishes forloren hare from a German or Swedish meatloaf, and it carries the quiet note of game that the dish is reaching for. If the jar in your cupboard is older than two years, buy a fresh one.
• •Serve an earthy red wine alongside, a Pinot Noir or a lighter Burgundy-style bottle. Beer also works, a dark lager rather than a pilsner. The sweetness of the redcurrant jelly and the depth of the brun sovs both want something with a little weight in the glass.

Advance Preparation

• •The forcemeat can be mixed and shaped a day ahead. Wrap the bacon-covered loaf loosely and refrigerate. Bring it back to room temperature for thirty minutes before it goes into the oven.
• •Forloren hare is one of the few Danish dishes that is arguably better the next day. Leftovers are traditionally sliced cold onto rugbrod as smorrebrod, with a spoonful of remoulade and a few rings of pickled onion. Make extra on purpose.
• •The gravy can be made in advance up to the point of adding cream. Reheat gently, add the cream and redcurrant jelly just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 315g)