Bunny a la Gran - in pictures

Vegetarians, the squeamish or those who think rabbits make good pets may wish to look away now....

I like rabbits. There's something very comforting about having a rabbit that swells with the security of cosy family life.

When my mother was a young child, her family had a pet rabbit. It apparently was none too friendly a thing, and as with many rodent/small children combinations, the novelty of the animal wore off, leaving my grandmother the job of feeding and watering the creature, and cleaning out its hutch. Her kids (my mother and uncle) infrequently took their turn in the task. One day, the kids had gone to tend to the rabbit and found it had gone. They asked their mum what had happened - where had the rabbit gone? She answered bluntly, "We ate it, don't you remember, last Friday?"

Apparently, that fated morning, the rabbit had rather ungratefully and also rather stupidly given my gran a vicious nibble as she tried to feed it. This being the post-war era and my gran being nothing if not practical, she had sweetly asked the nice postman if he would be so kind as to wring the rabbit's neck, thus solving the problem of having to feed the vicious rabbit and also putting an end to any uncertainty as to what to put in the pot for dinner.

As I was saying, I like rabbit, and it reminds me of my family, and my gran in particular. I'd like to think she would have enjoyed coming round for a bunny dinner last night. If I ever write a family cookbook, rabbit stew would figure prominently. 

The raw material:


A representative of the same species after Badger's pal Len spotted it:



Len's bunny, suitably butchered, browning nicely on the stove:



The pot-ready bunny, waiting patiently for its carrots, onions and celery:



The finished article - Bunny a la Gran. Very tasty it was, too - grateful thanks to Len.