Sweet and strong hare, authentic Tuscan cooking

Sweet and strong hare

The “sweet and strong hare” is an old Tuscan cooking traditional dish, the most tasty among the original recipes, able to remind to a past era, in which histories and recipes were handed down by each family along the centuries.

The “sweet and strong hare” tells stories of (sometimes illegal) hunters, that tended snares in the woods to catch hares, badgers and wild boars, in order to obtain good meals for their poor families. If men were supposed to go hunting, the women had to feed the animals fallen into the trap, picking up acorns for every boar and fresh grass for the hare.

Thanks to this recipe, you can get closer to the ancient Tuscan cooking traditions characterized by long preparations and slow way of cooking. Here’s the preparation, as described by Rino Salvestrini and Dianora Fiorentino.

You should start with a mixture of onions, rosemary, garlic, parsley, celery and putting it in a pan with olive oil, together with the hare cutted in pieces and a bit of water. It’s a meal to be cooked very slowly adding also a little glass of broth. The “sweet and strong” sauce is prepared mixing in a cup red wine vinegar, sugar, raisins, pine nuts and grated dark chocolate. Put this great into the saucepan with the meat and cook it for twenty minutes.