Name: Le Lapin en Cabessal (Stuffed rabbit in the shape of a headband)
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 60 g (2 oz) shallots, chopped; salt, pepper; 1 tablespoon flour; 300 ml (½ pt) dry white wine; 400 ml (¾ pt) stock; 30 g (1 oz) shallots; 3 tablespoons goose or duck fat; a 1.5 kg (3¼ lb) rabbit; 175 g (6 oz) fresh couennes (pork skin); 4 cloves garlic, chopped; 175 g (6 oz) button mushrooms, chopped; bouquet garni; 1 egg; 2 tablespoons armagnac; salt, pepper, quatre-épices; 125 g (4 oz) lean pork, chopped; 100 g (3½ oz) fat pork, chopped; 175 g (6 oz) jambon de campagne, diced; 30 g (1 oz) breadcrumbs

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Goose Fat & Garlic

By Jeanne Strang

Published 1991

About

Some families in our village, even if they have no other livestock, keep a few rabbits in a hutch. Apart from their value for the table they amuse the children and grandchildren. This local recipe, and its curious name, goes back to when the women, who had to carry the pails of water from the well on their heads, rolled a towel or piece of cloth into a crown which they wore to support the weight – the cabessal. This dish takes the name because the rabbit’s fore and hind feet are tied