Ragoût of Rabbit

Game birds, and young animals like the rabbit called for here, were favorites on the tables of the rich in the seventeenth century. However, the poor were not so lucky; game was reserved for the seigneur and in certain periods the penalty for poaching was death. La Varenne seasons this dish with a bouquet garni – one of the first mentions of the term.

You can fricasée rabbits in the same way as chickens or sauté them in a frying pan with a little flour mixed with butter, put