Rabbit for 5.69 a pound?

Caputo's had some rabbits in the meat case yesterday, typical ones - buthered but whole, sealed in plastic.

Why in the world is rabbit 5.69 a pound? You end up with about the same ratio of edible stuff to waste (or stock fodder) as chicken.

Anybody know of cheaper places to buy rabbit?

Also, does anyone prepare it other than braised? I have made some killer braises with rabbit, but haven't try another cooking method yet.

Nancy

I made a samitch stop yesterday at Bari Foods and noticed a sign on the meat case for rabbit at $2.69 lb. Many of the live poultry places around town also carry live rabbit.

Bari Foods
1120 W Grand Av.
Chicago, 60622
(312) 666-0730

I've done it fried, like chicken. Pretty good. Done it with dumplings. Pretty good.

But then there's hasenpeffer: now *that's* the way to do it. But you know what? that's probably --technically speaking-- a braise-method as well: brown it, then stew it.

Yummmm.

They're pretty easy to buy here in Montreal. You've made me think about it, maybe I'll get a rabbit at the marché tomorrow and make Sunday rabbit.

Tnx for the inspiration!

Geo

_____I buy my rabbit at Michael's Fresh Market on route 59, Naperville, IL. I don't recall the exact price, but the whole animal is never much more then $5. I don't think I would have bought it if it was.

Z

Considering I had a pet bunny growing up, however, I don't often pick up rabbit to eat. Had to try it, though...felt weird.

In case you didn't notice, the quote at the top is all about cooking bunny this week:

You're not going to win the kids over to beheading, skinning and eating Bugs Bunny.

From my Belgian dinner post....

Oakton Market also has frozen rabbit for sale at about the same price. I agree - how expensive can it be to raise something that, as pets, are nigh on impossible to keep from procreating and eat almost anything green?

We used to have a yearly rabbit dinner with a family friend, who prepared it braised in some kind of sour cream sauce - I think the recipe is in Joy of Cooking. It can be a bit gamey, definitely needs a slow cooking procedure as they're muscular little critters, but it's nice. Not in any way like chicken.

I agree that $5.69/lb for rabbit is ridiculous. I also don't understand why rabbit tends to be so expensive. Maybe it's because it's labeled as game?

You can find less expensive rabbit at the Green City Market in Lincoln Park. However, the market has ended for the season and will re-open in the May. The nice thing with the Green City Market is that many of the vendors supply organic products.

I've purchased stewing hens for stock, fresh chickens, goose, and fresh eggs at the Green City Market. I plan to buy an organic turkey this year for Thanksgiving. I find the meat that I've purchased at the market much more flavorful than that purchased at the supermarket.

Give the GCM a visit this Spring !

I don't know the price, but many of the live poultry places also have rabbit, at least sometimes. Here's one to try:

Chicago Live Poultry and Grocery
773/542-9451
6421 N. Western Ave.
Chicago

As for why rabbit costs so much more than chicken, that's because there are no giant factory rabbit farms. In the days before big agribusiness made it a cheap commodity, chicken cost more than veal.* (It still does, if you order it here.)

When the Hoover campaign promised America "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage," they were talking about luxury items.

*Of course, veal was comparatively cheaper in those days as a necessary byproduct of dairying. In fact, it was called "city chicken"!

My granddad raised rabbits in back of the garage, and my grandmother cooked them à la polonaise. Chickens were a real treat: I remember clearly going one Sunday after mass to a butcher in Granite City. Beef (of some sort, I don't remember what cut--I was only 10!) was 28¢ a lb, and whole chicken was 39¢. (this was c. 1953; I don't know what today's rate would be, but there you have the relative values.)

Much as one might worry about the hens suffering in the battery, it's certainly true that there's one--or at least its hindquarters--in every pot.

Geo

Peoria Packing had frozen rabbits today at 2.69/lb. They look to be about the same as the ones at the Marketplace on Oakton. In the past, when I made rabbit more often, it tended to come from the People's Republic of China, though I'm not sure if that is the case at present. Also, Mastering the Art of French Cooking has a hasenpfeffer-style rabbit braise that I have often made. As I recall, it has been consistently well-received even among those guests who were initally horrified at the prospect of eating such a thing. Of course, maybe it was the wine that did the trick.

Rabbit at Caputo's in Elmwood Park yesterday was $2.55/lb.

All the Chinatown markets carry frozen butchered rabbit individually packed. The cheapest I saw was at Richwell Market which I think it $1.99 each (not per lb) as each individual packed rabbit had a sticker for $1.99.



Richwell Market (Chinese market)
1835 S Canal St
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 492-7170

Disclaimer: I have never bought rabbit nor cooked it myself, so I cannot vouch for the quality of their wabbits.

The rabbits in your picture look exactly like the ones I saw recently at Marketplace on Oakton and Peoria packing. I'm guessing that they are all from China as the rabbits were 20 years ago when I bought them in the meatpacking district in Manhattan.