Recommendations
Jugged hare with A. v. Wees De Ooievaar Zeer Oude Genever 10 jaar
On the plate are hare legs that have been braised for two hours in red wine and game stock, with bacon strips, thyme and cloves in the sauce. Set against them is a very old genever of 42% that has lain for ten years in oak casks, heavy enough to stand next to game.
From the shelf
The bottle
A. v. Wees De Ooievaar Zeer Oude Genever 10 jaar comes from Distilleerderij A. van Wees, De Ooievaar, at Driehoekstraat 10 in the Amsterdam Jordaan, a distillery that dates back to 1782. It is an old jenever of 42% vol in a 70 cl bottle, made from select malt wine, grain distillate and botanicals, and aged for ten years in oak casks. The designation old jenever requires at least 15% alcohol from malt wine and at least 35% vol; at 42% this bottle is well above that.
The combination
Why this works together
Hare is dark, iron-rich meat with a pronounced gamey flavour, and the sauce becomes heavier still through red wine, game stock and ten cloves. Such a plate asks for nothing fresh but for something with the same depth, and a jenever that lay ten years in oak has that: wood, dry nut and aged malt wine. Those wood notes link up with the thyme, the bay leaf and the cloves, and the tannin-like dryness from the cask runs parallel to the red wine in the sauce. The 42% alcohol does real work here: hare is lean but the bacon and the reduced sauce are not, and that alcohol lifts the fat from the tongue. The ironiness of the game is rounded off by the aged malt wine instead of being sharpened. Weight against weight, with wood as the link between pan and glass.
At the table
The dish
- For 4 people
- Ready in 2 hours 45 minutes
- Type main course
What you need
- 4 hare legs
- 1 large onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 celery sticks
- 50 g butter
- 100 g bacon strips
- 250 ml red wine
- 1 jar of game stock
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cloves
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- mashed potato and red cabbage to serve alongside
How to make it
- Peel and chop the onion and the garlic. Wash the celery and cut it into small pieces. Sprinkle the hare legs with salt and pepper.
- Heat the butter in a sauté pan and gently fry the bacon strips for about 3 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon onto a plate.
- Brown the hare legs all over in the same fat and add them to the bacon.
- Sweat the onion, garlic and celery in the remaining fat for about 3 minutes. Add the red wine and the game stock and bring to the boil.
- Put the hare legs back in the pan with the bacon, the thyme, the bay leaves and the cloves. Let it all stew gently for about 2 hours with the lid ajar on the pan until the meat is done. Spoon the legs onto a dish, reduce the sauce over high heat to the desired thickness and pour it over the meat. Serve with mashed potatoes and red cabbage.
In the glass
Serving
Serve this very old genever at room temperature in a tulip glass, filled to the brim. Old genever does not belong in the fridge, and after ten years in the cask that counts double: cold closes up the wood and the matured malt wine. Put the glass next to the plate and let it stand for a minute after pouring.
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