• #1
• Comment by Aaron

Thank you for taking the time to prepare this.  I don't think I would eat it, either, but it's fascinating to see how disused peasant dishes are made.  Thank you for sticking your neck out for us!

• #2
• Comment by Claudia (cook eat FRET)

OKI draw the lineit's over between us...YOWZA !

• #3
• Comment by Peter

FX, these kinds of dishes are the tastiest. You're brave for making it, the least I can do is to offer to eat it!

• #4
• Comment by Sherri

Your dark humor kept me giggling despite that photo of the head with the tomatoes.

• #5
• Comment by Dave Bowker

You have a real head for bad puns! :D

• #6
• Comment by Luke

I don't see what's so bad about this dish. In theory, it seems pretty good actually, and I'd definitely have the gall to try it.There are plenty of great dishes that make use of heads. There's mayeritsa is Greece, barbacoa in northern Mexico and the US Southeast, the ever-classic roasted head of boar...I mean, it looks gross, to be sure, but the head has some pretty decent quality meat.

• #7
• Comment by thushara

Maybe it's the nature of my profession or that I was already hungry before I found your website, I don't know. A pity that it got binned!That was an interesting recipe - I wouldn't mind trying it out. Or sampling the dish, for that matter! :) I'm not sure I can find rabbits heads sold here in Berkshire, UK though!This is an amazing website - love the pictures, the exotic recipes and the writing! I'm bookmarking, if you don't mind!

• #8
• Comment by Hirm

Hello,Thanks for the very fascinating article with the fascinating pictures (wow...rabit cheeks have really developed muscles as I have been imagining).  I know excactly where to go to get rabit heads in my neiborhood, though, I don't think I'll try.  I agree with you, this is not for girls.

• #9
• Comment by Allen

Oh my, god -- thank you for making this dish so I won't have too :-)  I grew up on a farm so I appreciate that all parts of the animal can be made useful.  I would gladly eat this dish if I didn't have to cook it being cooked.  The thick pasta looks fantastic, by the way.  Cheers!

• #10
• Comment by Alys

Thank you for the recipe. This is good farm food - and a reminder that we should not waste!You said: "This one is not for the ladies."In a big farm family, perhaps men do the heavy slaughter (beef, pork, sheep, etc.) and the women do the lighter end (chickens, rabbits, ducks, etc.). In small families, everyone takes part. And who do you think would be the ones doing most of this cooking traditionally? Perhaps it is not for the urban folks ... or those who think their meat comes in little plastic trays.

• #11
• Comment by Donald

Um...um...be right BACK!!!!I'm fine.Wow Francois! C'mon now. You ate that pasta didn't you?

• #12
• Comment by SeanJA

Now that is a lot of bad puns... Pretty grewsome dish too, looks like something my dad might try to get me to eat...

• #13
• Comment by Beatrice

Well, I use rabbit heads in my soup stock always, as no Alsatian butcher would think of decapitating one he was selling.  But what did you do with all those EYES?

• #14
• Comment by Luci

Hi Francois,Although fascinating, I don't blame you for not eating this - the final plate looks delicious, but knowing what came before, I would be reluctant as well!Luci

• #15
• Comment by louise

Argh, SO MANY PUNS - ouch. Your English is far too perfect for my poor joke-processing-cerebral-cortex ;)Did you not even taste the dish? In the last picture it looks good, if you discount what went before it...

• #16
• Comment by art cox

Thank you. That brought a tear to my eye. Wonderful respect for the normally wasted bits...

• #17
• Comment by Ariun

Punniest thing i've read today! How could you not try the dish, at least to see if it's tasty or not? Now the world will never know...

• #18
• Comment by Lambzilla

Francois...I procured a roasted pig head (how/why is not important) and made barbecue. It was a grim chore in preparation but the sauce was my own and the meat was good. I was just curious at what point in your preparation did you loose your appetite? As an avid reader of your excellent blog I know you've eaten pressed duck, pig trotters, gave us a scintilating description of the Jesus sausage casing, even tried the Scottish dishes...How could you tantalize us with this wonderful rustic dish and not taste one bite? PS: this is the best food blog on the net.

• #19
• Comment by mtX

I would try this recipe head-on! :) Actually, I just had some lamb head yesterday - we use the head for a traditional easter soup, and you can eat some meat and the brains - yummy stuff. Ah, and the eyes too...

• #20
• Comment by cookery

That's not the way to get ahead in life

• #21
• Comment by Lama

There is restaurants in China serving rabbit heads, I am sure it tastes good I won't dare to try.

• #41
• Comment by Cristina

Your site is wonderful and delicious.Can you show us how to make a authentic italian bread?

• #42
• Comment by Luciano

Great (?!) and original recipe, as always here from you.Sure, to see the poor rabbitts' heads could make some sense, but here in Italy, because we come from a poor tradition, we had to learn and use every part of the animals.Brains from sheep and calves, great dish for the easter time ( many many years ago I grew up eating that dish, boiled or fried, some everyday ) pajata (guts ) with rigatoni, bull's testicles grilled, pork's ears and nose, and so on amenities.Regard the slow cooking, just two days ago I made a dish, south-italian traditional so very good but so really quick.I'll send the short recipe to you by mail just to try in your kitchen, in italian, too hard for me to translate into englishKeep on showing us a lot of new great recipes; thanks

• #43
• Comment by parshu.narayanan

Unfortunately it signals the end of my fantasy where  a Monica Belluci lookalike Italian lady  will ask me if I would like a little head.:-)

• #44
• Comment by Susie

The Italians seem very partial to eating heads. Years ago when I had an Italian husband we visited his aunt near Verona. She had cooked chicken, and told me I was destined to have "the best bit". I braced myself for the parson's nose, but it was worse than that: the head, complete with beak, eyes, comb, tongue. I think that's when I first began to consider becoming a vegetarian. Having followed your preparation of the above dish, I'm so glad that I did. And who knows, Francois, maybe this experience will put you on the road to Damascus! :-)  

• #49
• Comment by Fooman

Dude. Growing up in a chinese familiy I have eaten some pretty gnarly stuff. I must say this recipe was defenately at the head of the list of crazy foods. I bet if you substituted pulled rabbit meat it would would make a good dinner. I like your site and will continue to check out your offerings.

• #51
• Comment by AlexFalk

I stumbled upon your site while looking at reviews for "the Silver Spoon" and immediately poured over every article.
I have tried Balut, and the bunny heads look delicious in comparison, I do not think I would have any problem eating this, and even preparing it.
I do not think that I would have an easy time finding the heads though, however I live in a city with a very large Asian population, and is one of the most diverse cities in the US (Sacramento Ca.) so there may be hope.

• #53
• Comment by shizzo

My in-laws are from Italy and make rabbit a lot.  The grandmother always cooks the head and innards with the rabbit pieces (usually braised).  A few people go after the brains and heart intentionally.  I've grabbed the head a couple of times by accident.  I'm not much of an organ eater, but I have pulled the meat off the head instead of tossing it back in the bowl and it tasted fine.  The sauce this was cooked in looks tasty.  I'm surprised you wouldn't give it a try.

• #55
• Comment by AlexFalk

I went to the closest Italian grocery store and had a chat with one of the butchers. They only deal with frozen bunnies.  I could shoot my own at my parents house, but I think using a whole rabbit (sans head) would yield similar results.
I shall not give up my quest for fresh bunny noggins though.

• #57
• Comment by Petr

Hello, i use normally rabbit heads to make a soup. It makes a tasty and strong bouillon. In Czech Republic it is quite normal (you can buy rabbit heads even in Tesco). I use meat from the neck and cheeks, it is the most tasty. I don't use the tongues and brains, it has no special taste and the texture of the brain is not nice.(Did you use those in your recipe?) So there is not much flesh anyway...
..But another thing is pig's brain..it is delicious

• #59
• Comment by ND

Oh my soul, I thought I was the only person on earth who actually watched "Dobermann"… I'm sure Yann le Panterac (correct spelling, I hope) would've been brave enough to eat this pasta! He might even have hunted the little fellows down with his .357…

• #61
• Comment by Tobasco44

Wow. I always wondered why the French sold the skinned head of a rabbit in their markets. Not much meat though.

• #63
• Comment by carmen

All I can say is you are VERY BRAVE to even attempt this dish. How did it taste? like chicken! ja ja ja!

• #65
• Comment by Ieva

Well it all depends on "do you feel sorry for this poor rabbit" or it just piece of meat. In Latvia it is normal to eat pig's heads on Christmas (it is jellied meat), also from fish heads is made consommé. It’s the same thing as tongues, hearts and brains of animal – some cultures approve them for cuisine, some strictly forbid to eat certain parts of bodies. What so ever it isn’t the nastier dish you could have for diner ;)

• #67
• Comment by ieva

Well – there is no special name for fish consommé, I could tell you what my sister done with salmon yesterday :D – take whole salmon (without guts) and take of tale, head (from head take out gills – they are bitter and uneatable) all fishbone – make usual fish fillet. All bones, head and tale boil in water with herbs (the mane for fish – fresh dill, onions, bay-leaf, salt and pepper). When it looks like normal consommé – filtrate it – and rip flesh from bones – there will be enough meat. Than add potatoes and carrot – boil until they almost dissolve in soup, serve with sour cream and fresh dill – this I had for dinner :D.  What to do with filet – elementary – take for one spoon salt, one spoon sugar and almost the same amount of pepper – strew it on salmon (raw with skin on it still), and put it in box, put some plate with weight on it and leave it in fridge for some time (1-2h) – till you can sea some juice comes out. So now your salted salmon is ready for serving – I usually enjoy it on the white bred, with butter, a bit of lemon and little bit of fresh onion (sound like tartar sandwiches – this is common delicacy for Latvian, my grandma in the same whey eats fresh herring – I don’t do this, it’s  bit to much fish bones there). This is normal meal for my family and you can use salmon completely, except gills and guts.

I found this page while looking for Moroccan meals, I am not a professional cook – actually I am clerk :D, but I  found that you enjoy in the same way as I do traditional cousin’s, and I could share some “absolutely mad” meals also. This page is absolutely fabulous!!!

About pigs head – it had only Latvian name, I could look for some pictures – but it looks like it looks – pigs head on plate, boiled with salt and pepper, it is served with gray peas. I don’t enjoy it – it looks too odd for me.

But the bigger part in our traditional food takes milk and it products, but we don’t have cheeses (only raw cheeses from curd) – partly because of our climate, but curd is made in one hundred ways, and the most delicious are pies and puddings.

• #69
• Comment by gitto

Will you marry me? Please?

• #70
• Comment by Alexis

pity that you didnt try it at the end i love rabbit heads the best part of a rabbit in my opinion
if you ever come to greece i will show you how it is eaten

• #71
• Comment by RNRQ

I know this comes late, but this is for AlexFalkon: There are many rabbit raisers within reasonable distance of Sacramento, CA--and we're usually happy to sell you a whole rabbit dressed to your specifications (although we don't do tuxedos, the rental fees are heck!LOL).

The only turn-off for me on this recipe is the brain thing, but splitting the heads is not difficult and the brain and eyes could certainly give the family dog or cat a nice treat. :)

I think one day soon I will try this recipe with ribcage sections--they are difficult to cook well for things other than soups, but this would be quite suitable.

Thank you!
PA

• #72
• Comment by Diana

This was a wonderful reading and I will try this reciepe with some modifications. I do have several rabbit heads in my freezer. I wanted to try them a long time ago, but so far have not got that far, just yet anyway. I have cookend rabbit heads before to get the tongue´s out. It is amazying to make tounge terrine out of them. Can I use your reciepe in my webpage along with photos? Offcourse credit will go to you!
Diana

• #73
• Comment by nameBELZA

I have been trying to find a recipe for rabbit head rillettes which I bought in France and enjoyed for lunch with crusty french bread. A combiation of this recipe -vegs + advice on how to take a head apart on another web site might be the answer. I'll let you know. As you can tell I am not squeamish, and can remember when a child  my auntie making rabbit stew, the head was a special treat for my uncle.

• #74
• Comment by rolf gerstner

my wife is now securing a dozen of rabbit heads for your recipe. but there is one condition: the eyes must be in place. we are addicted to all edible animal heads especially goats. if you ever come to miami, please contact me for a saturday morning special at our favorite haitian hangout chez bebe in the haitian district for a goat head soup including eyeballs, brain and tongue. this is a meal for the entire day. fyi, my wife is from venezuela and i am from germany having travelled all over the globe.keep up this site which is the best i have come across. regards, rolf