[Sca-cooks] hare vs rabbit

[Pixel, Goddess and Queen]

On Fri, 30 Aug 2002, Phlip wrote:

> > My big-ass (as my son would say) dictionary was of no help, so I will ask
> you guys.... what is the differance between a hare and a rabbit. And which
> one is a *cony*? The dictionary only said that a rabbit was a small hare.
> Is that it?
>
> Well, they're two different species, although very similar in appearance.
> Hares tend to be a bit bigger and tougher than rabbits, and one is from
> England, the other from the Americas- can never remember which is which.
> Coney is another name for the English rabbit, and it got transposed down to
> Oz.

The hare is native to Britain, the rabbit (or coney, as Phlip has said) is
not. The Romans adored them and started warrens in England that died out
when they left. The Normans brought them back, and by the 13th century you
start to see gifts of rabbit furs and suchlike. In the 13th century they
were still protected in warrens and not really available to the common
peoples.

 >
> > Thanks!
> > Phillipa
> > ps... what does rabbit and/or hare taste like? and don't say chicken!!
>
> Unfortunately, that's about as close as you're going to get ;-) You can use
> rabbit and chicken recipes almost completely interchangeably, keeping in
> mind that you won't have the skin on the rabbit to retain moisture, as you
> need to do in some chicken recipes.
>
> Phlip

Heh. Bunny is a bit stringier than chicken, although it is very light,
like chicken. It has a delicate flavor, a little sweet to my taste. It has
lots of teeny little bones.

Margaret