Roast Fillets of Hare Wrapped in Ham, with Port and Walnuts

The hare is native to Britain, the one animal that escaped the stringent game laws passed throughout the centuries. A poacher – or a man trying to feed his starving family – could be beheaded or, later, transported, for taking a deer or pheasant, but the hare was always available. Hare as a meat was slightly looked down on by the middle and upper classes, as it was a food of the poor.

A hare is often mistaken for a rabbit. Hare is larger, though, and has two main features that immed