Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit!

When Glyn invited me to come and catch my supper, I must admit I was quite excited by the prospect. When I discovered that I would catching rabbits, it at first seemed slightly less adventurous than possibly some other game pursuits or methods of hunting. I was very wrong, true it was not glamorous, but exciting it was...

We met early on a glorious sunny December morning and drove quite a distance through winding frosty country roads to a rural farmstead. On the journey Glyn gave me a quick run down on what to expect and explained that it was a very serious business. He also explained that it might not be pleasant, the killing of any animal is something confrontational even if just out of respect for the beast. With a little trepidation instilled, we arrived at our destination; a beautiful sun-kissed frosty orchard on a large country estate. I was introduced to our experts (although I was reprimanded for calling them that!), the very modest Simon and Steve. They were working on the farm to keep the rabbit population down as they can be very damaging to any crop and are particularly partial to tender young fruit trees. Already busily laying nets around the burrows when we arrived, we quietly remained at a distance to watch these country gents busy at their craft.

Simon places a purse net around the entrance of each rabbit hole, some 15 on this particular warren. Next he surrounds the whole area with a stand-up long net to ensure no rabbits escape. Simon was very patient with me, explaining every detail along the way as he encouraged me to participate. Once the nets were laid, the ferrets were called in, Simon selecting one or two out of his ‘cast' of ferrets (a group of ferrets also called a business or fesnyng) from their travelling boxes. The job of the ferret is to bolt the rabbits out of their burrows and into the nets. Simon also had two beautifully trained working lurchers who "point" the holes where they detect the rabbits, giving Simon an indication of where to work.

After a few minutes of waiting, I felt a thumping between my feet, Simon whispered this was rabbits drumming a warning and also running around the warren. Shortly after a rabbit flew into a net and was quickly restrained. Immediately, Simon carefully removed it from the net and humanely despatched the rabbit by painlessly breaking its neck in one swift motion, holding it by the back legs and pulling its head backwards and sideways simultaneously. In fact, so quickly I didn't realise it was all over. Later on, I got to do the despatching myself and it surprised me how natural and unstressed it was, so much different to the long journeys and lengthy process our farmed animals can face to the abattoir. I was proud to have had the courage to do so, as I feel that if you wish to eat a creature you should have the nerve to kill it. Knowing that this food was produced as the by-product of pest control made it all the more ethical and the tasting of it all the better for knowing the provenance of a truly wild beast. Afterwards, the rabbit was ‘bladdered' ie the urine pushed out so as not to taint the flesh and I was given the task of carrying the bag as we caught it in the bespoke game sling over my shoulder.

I was extremely impressed with Simon and Steve, who were true professionals in every sense and I was sad that the day's hunting had finished but it was back to a warm kitchen to prepare the bag. I had a fabulous time in the frosty sunshine learning an age old trade from two masters. What better way to catch your supper.

Now on to the cooking.....  Thankfully Simon did the hard work by gutting and skinning my rabbits in the field, so all I had to do was to clean and then joint them. With Glyn's help, I slowly braised the meat with local cider, leeks, apples, prunes, shallots, mustard and thyme for a couple of hours on a low heat in the oven, then finished it with a splash of cream. Served up with root vegetable mash, buttered kale and honey roasted parsnips - delicious!