Rabbit pie is a game pie consisting of rabbit meat in a gravy with other ingredients (typically onions, celery and carrots) enclosed in a pastry crust.[1] Rabbit pie is part of traditional American and English cuisine.[2] It has recently[when?] found renewed popularity.[3]

Rabbit pie
A meat pie made with rabbit and chicken
TypeSavoury pie
Main ingredientsRabbit, onions, celery and carrots

Ingredients

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Wild rabbit, as opposed to farmed, is most often used as it is easily and affordably obtained, and is described as more flavoursome.[4]

Along with rabbit meat, ingredients of the filling of a rabbit pie typically include onions, celery and carrots.[5][6][7] Other ingredients may include prunes,[7][8] bacon[6][7] and cider.[5][6] Australian recipes for rabbit pie sometimes include the food paste Vegemite as an ingredient.[9]

In culture

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Rabbit pie was a staple dish of the American pioneers.[10] Thanks to the increasing demand for wild and fresh ingredients, rabbit pie is often seen on the menus of fashionable restaurants and gastropubs.[11]

Two huge rabbit pies are part of traditional Easter celebrations in the English village of Hallaton, Leicestershire.[12]

In Beatrix Potter's children's book The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Peter Rabbit and his siblings are warned "[not to] go into Mr. McGregor's garden" because their father "had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor."[13]

"Rabbit pie day" is ostensibly invoked in the song Run, Rabbit, Run.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Albala, Ken (2010). The lost art of real cooking : rediscovering the pleasures of traditional food, one recipe at a time. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 978-0-399-53588-8. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  2. ^ Aunt Chloe (May 1888). Louisa, Knapp (ed.). "The Practical Housekeeper". The Ladies' Home Journal. V (6). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Cyrus H. K. Curtis. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  3. ^ Gates, Stefan (2005). Gastronaut : adventures in food for the romantic, the foolhardy, and the brave. Orlando: Harcourt. pp. 123–124. ISBN 0-15-603097-7. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  4. ^ BBC Food
  5. ^ a b Smith, Liz. "BBC—Food—Recipes—Rabbit pie" (PDF). A Taste of my Life. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  6. ^ a b c Stephanie Alexander (18 October 2011). "Mary's rabbit pie". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  7. ^ a b c Delia Smith. "Old-English Rabbit Pie". Delia Online. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  8. ^ Maggie Beer and Simon Bryant (11 February 2009). "The Cook and the Chef—Rabbit Pie". The Cook and the Chef. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 8 March 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  9. ^ Mason, Anne (2 June 1959). "Make a Savoury Pie for Dinner". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  10. ^ "Dame Delicacies Draw Hundreds to Old Church". The News and Courier. 4 November 1975. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  11. ^ Lutrario, Joe (22 November 2007). "Dining Royal style". Morning Advertiser. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  12. ^ Jensen, Gregory (5 April 1958). "Rabbit Pie and Kisses—England's Easter Customs Strange". Toledo Blade. Block Communications. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  13. ^ "Art: Peter's Miss Potter". TIME. 24 January 1944. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2012.