Paolo, Al Covo's chef de cuisine, has a passion for hunting. During the weekends, in the wilds near his home, east of Venice, in the region of Friuli, with the assistance of his hounds, he catches a variety of game, including pheasant, deer, and hare. Often, these wild animals found there way into the Al Covo staff meals.
On a cold wintry day, Paolo brought in a big 'ol hare, weighing something close to 5 pounds. The huge hare was skinned and gutted (cooks, Maria and Rocco, are comfortable with the fact that death is a prerequisite to the pleasures of eating meat, an association, most Americans are uncomfortable with and to a large degree unaware of) and, after aging for three days butchered into thighs, legs, shoulders, loins, head. Paolo held up a piece of the deeply red flesh and inhaled. He motioned for me to do the same. The initial bouquet, exactly like really fresh grass feed beef, was followed by an intense finish -- sourish, metallic, lingering in the area where the roof of your mouth meets the back of your throat, exactly the place you punch to make yourself gag. We marinated the hare in red wine with onions, celery, carrots, rosemary, cinnamon and braised it for a couple of hours.
Buon appetito. Sauvage is the best way to describe the flavor of Mr. Hare. His flesh had the offalesque, slightly metallic, wild flavor that cultivated animals lack. With a side of soft polenta, this was a satisfying meal, warming us on a cold, damp, December evening in Venice.
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