Hasenpfeffer is a traditional Germanstew made from marinated rabbit or hare, cut into stewing-meat sized pieces and braised with onions and a marinade made from wine and vinegar.
Description
Hase is German for "hare" and Pfeffer is German for "pepper", although the culinary context refers generically to the spices and seasonings in the dish overall, as with the German ginger cookies called pfeffernüsse. Seasonings typically include fresh cracked black pepper or whole peppercorns, along with salt, onions, garlic, lemon, sage, thyme, rosemary, allspice, juniper berries, cloves, and bay leaf. In Bavaria and Austria, the cuisines of which have been influenced by neighboring Hungarian and Czech culinary traditions, hasenpfeffer can include sweet or hot paprika.
In the 1932 Fleischer StudiosTalkartoonBetty Boop short Minnie the Moocher, Betty Boop runs away with her boyfriend, Bimbo, following a fight with her strict, Yiddish-speaking parents over hasenpfeffer. The 1962 Looney Tunes short Shishkabugs features Yosemite Sam as a palace cook who is ordered by the king to prepare hasenpfeffer, but who does not know what hasenpfeffer is. Upon learning from a book of recipes that the main ingredient is rabbit, he sets about trying to capture Bugs Bunny for the dish. The word "hasenpfeffer" is repeated many times by all three characters in the cartoon as a running gag, with the haughty king at one point dramatically yelling "Cook! Where's my hasenpfeffer?!" In the song, "G.I. Blues", recorded by Elvis Presley in 1960, he sings, "We get hasenpfeffer and black pumpernickel for chow ... I'd blow my next month's pay for a slice of Texas cow!" In the opening credits of Laverne & Shirley, Laverne and Shirley recite a Yiddish-American hopscotch chant: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated." In the Broadway musicalThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the character William Barfée sings the song Magic Foot, in which he spells out the word. In the TV show, The Office, Dwight includes Hasenpfeffer as part of his pitch for a Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas.
