Rabbit with Chocolate Sauce - The FoodOlic recipes (2024)

A braised Rabbit with Chocolate Sauce and red wine served on a thick mashed potato bed. A traditional recipe of Catalonia called Conejo al chocolate.

Catalonia Flair

This creation was inspired by a Catalan dish calledConejo al chocolate, which means Rabbit with Chocolate Sauce. This version is slightly different than thetraditional recipe from Catalonia, Spain. I know the Basques have their version also, with brandy instead of wine. In Catalonia, they use fortifiedwine called “Rancio” to make it, similar to Porto. I’ve used an everyday wine to make this recipe easier to reproduce at home, but a Porto would do too. It makes the dish, in the end, a bit less sweet, which I prefer.

Rabbit recipes are greatbut often underrated because, justlike chicken breasts, the meat is so lean… cooking it the wrong way will dry it out fast and ruin it. No worries; this recipe is a stew so the meat won’t dry.

Butcher Lady

As always, I’ve picked up the rabbit at my favourite market and asked the lady what she does with the heads. “Is there anything to eat in it, or is it for broth making only?” she recommended eating the cheeks and tongue. Then she said you either love or hate it; it’s a black or white thing… So, after the cooking process, I tried both, and it was a “grey” situation… the cheeks, Iloved! Asuper tender and tasty part. As for the tongue…! I’ll have to work on that one… I need a good tongue recipe to make peace with it; I’m open to invitations to share a rabbit tongue recipe here…

Chocolate from Guadeloupe

Chocolate is an excellent thickener for sauces, although it isn’t used much nowadays because of its price.My chocolate comes from the Mecca of Chocolate, Guadeloupe. I visited the “Maison du cacao” last yearand couldn’t resist the urge to buy that big 1kg pure cacao brick. They drink the cacao paste, Gwo Kako, in Creole, and they use the cacao butter for cooking and moisturizing their skin… I mean, chocolate is so polyvalent. While at the museum, they made us acacao drink with theGwo Kako, cane sugar and water. ‘Never use milk!’ the lady said. No idea why… and simply with water, it was an “out of that world” experience, such a velvety and chocolatydelight!

The Final Step: the Picada

The final step of the recipe ends with a “Picada.” This is “the number one” thing you learn in traditional Catalancooking class, making a big difference to a dish. A minimal amount of paste is added at the end of a stew or sauce made from fresh herbs, nuts, garlic, olive oil, etc.It’s a great trick to give your meal a final new touchand also helps thickens the leftover liquid. Usually, it’s done by hand in a mortar. The Picadastays optional, but if you want to make this extra small step, it will bring your meal theextra mile! This Catalan little secret is well worth the additional 2 minutes of work.

Other Catalan Dishes You Might Like

• PAN CON TOMATE – PA AMB TOMAQUET
• BLACK PAELLA
• MONKFISH AND CLAMS FIDEUÀ

So let’s makethat chocolate rabbit!