Bunny Rabbits, Thumper, Little Bunny Foo Foo. Do I Really Have to Do This?

After recovering from the stomach virus to end all stomach viruses, it was rabbit day.  I had been pretty much dreading this day since I saw it on the calendar in the first week and my friend told me they come with their heads on.

I arrived at school at 8 for our demonstration, got changed into my uniform, and took a seat with my friends in the back row like the cool kids that we are.  As the chef began his demo, he held up the rabbit for a photo op and sort of made it dance around on the table.  Oh the horror!  After butchering it, he held up its head with pride, and pulled out the rabbits tongue, laughing all the while.  Pas bien propre.

Time for our practical.  I walked into the kitchen and there were two bunnies on my board.  Not one, but TWO! After a momentary freak-out I realized one was Ali's and I promptly handed it off.  Now began the butchering.  First, cut out the liver (and save it of course; always save the liver!) and pull out each kidney.  Save these bad boys for the rosemary skewer we'll be making later as a garnish.  Now, cut at the waist and use both hands to crack the spine.  EEK!  Cut off the saddle and both front legs.  In the upper part of the chest were the lungs and heart that I obviously had to take out by hand.  Then take the cleaver and... BAM! Off with his head!  I'm not going to lie, it took a few minutes of washing my hands and knives plus several deep breaths to recover from that.

Now that the rabbit no longer looked like a rabbit (did I mention it came with its teeth and eyes in tact?) I was ok to work with it.  First we dusted it with flour and cooked it in a hot pan with oil and butter, basting it with mustard.  (I will later come back to the wonder than is french mustard- yum!)  After browning the outside, we removed it from the pan, made a sauce with stock, shallots, rosemary and wine, returned the rabbit to the pan and finished it in the oven.  Finish the sauce with some cream, of course, and voila! Lapin. Let's just say I won't be eating any of that for a while...

After a rather traumatizing day we all needed a good... serving a vegetables.  My dad was still in town as he had gotten stuck by one of New York's billion blizzards this winter.  He offered to take some of my friends to dinner, so Ali and Alex (another new friend) met us for dinner at a small italian restaurant called Olio Pan Vino in the 1e.  Obviously their special that night was pasta with rabbit ragu.  No thank you!  We ordered antipasto and salads with one, two, three bottles of wine.  A digestif to finish?  Sure! Why not?

On to meet the boys at a bar in the 5e for some beers and strange vodka, grenadine, tabasco shots.  Just enough drinks to cloud the memory of the day's butchery.  Just another day of culinary school in Paris.  Oui, chef!