There is a restaurant in London called Fallow which have an immaculate social media presence. They’re essentially “open source” in terms of their recipes; everything they make they share the recipes AND film themselves doing so. I have learned a lot from them, and if the hype wasn’t so much, would very much like to dine there.
Right now, the two main characters are in their side quest era, as the kids would say. In their latest episode, they tried to recreate one of the obscure classics of French gastronomy, Lievre à la Royale.
Imagine a hare, rolled into a pate shape disk, cooked for hours until spoon tender, and then served with a dark, glossy sauce thickened by the hare’s blood and liver.
Done well, it’s meant to be rich, earth, autumnal, and as one writer put it, “elevated aristocratic medieval”. There are so many ways it can go wrong; cooking with blood and liver can produce horrible results when done badly, and hare is a difficult protein to work with due to its rarity, shape, and leanness. But, apparently, it’s a must try experience.
The guys from Fallow tried their best to recreate it, and in no small way have saved a truly fringe but historic dish from obscurity. It’s worth watching, even if you’re more a pie and mash type (which is also wonderful).