National Rabbit Day

Father's Day 10. July 4. 28

On this date in 2000, on the anniversary of D-Day in 1944, the D-Day Museum opened in the Warehouse District of New Orleans. It was a big success, and expanded its scope to become the World War II Museum. It's a great place to visit, and it gets better with each year. That has made a big difference in that neighborhood, not just for the excellence of the museum, but also in triggering the opening and success of quite a few restaurants. They include Butcher, Cochon, La Boca, Annunciation, Peche, Tomas Bistro, Tommy's Cuisine, and Meril. Finally, there's the restaurant right in the museum itself: American Sector, with its 1940s theme.

On this date in 1716, the first slaves arrived in Louisiana. Slavery is not something to celebrate, to put it mildly. But its victims did enhance the Creole cuisine by mixing African flavors with French ones. Creole cooking is as much African as anything else. The same can be said about most of American popular music.

This is the national day of Sweden. It notes the independence of Sweden from the Danish Kalmar Union on this date in 1523, when the first king of Sweden took the throne. Americans suppose that the food of Sweden is boring, but in its specialties--fish, particularly salmon and herring--it can be delicious. The Swedes have a tastes for crawfish, but cook it in a much milder way than we do in Louisiana. Also good is smorgasbord, which might be the world's oldest formal buffet. The favored tipple in Sweden is akvavit--a kind of vodka flavored with herbs and spices, notably caraway. The toast is "skoal!"

Today is National Rabbit Day. Eating rabbit is different. It's not chicken, it's not fish, it's not beef, it's not pork. There's nothing else we eat that's really like it. On the other hand, everything about the flavor and texture of rabbit recommends it. Rabbit is almost absurdly tender, very lean, flavorful without being gamy, and heaven knows they're not endangered. Its only problem is that many people can't bring themselves to eat the adorable bunny they've come to love through cartoons.The rabbit we encounter in restaurants and stores is farm-raised and very young--usually only about three months old. Although I don't think it's really necessary, it's often marinated in wine and savory herbs for awhile.The legs are the toughest parts, as they are in a chicken or duck. Those are best cooked slowly and with a lot of moisture. The loins (also called the "saddle" when kept whole) consists more or less of what would be the rib roasts in beef. Those can be roasted or even grilled.On the other hand, a rabbit can be halved and slow-roasted in two pieces, again like a chicken or a duck. When this is done with a natural stock and some herbs and vegetables, you have a delicious thing indeed, as tender as anything you can eat.

There are two Lemon Streets in Metairie, the suburb of New Orleans just west of the city limits. The longer of the two begins at Argonne Street (a block south of West Napoleon) and ends at West Esplanade. It's interrupted three times along the way as it parallels Transcontinental Blvd., one block east. The best restaurants near Lemon Street are Cypress (a block west, just north of West Esplanade. The other Lemon Street runs east-west for two blocks in Old Metairie, from the Seventeenth Street Canal to Carrollton Avenue.

In front of a house on US 190 in Louisiana there once stood a hand-painted sign that read, "Rabbits For Sale. Pets or Meat." . . . The label for Coca-Cola was patented today in 1887 by J.S. Pemberton, the druggist who invented the beverage.

Whenever I serve rabbit, I don't tell anybody what it is until after they've finished and told me how great they think the dish is. Then I laugh as they cry.

A server who responds to your legitimate complaint with an immediate argument as to why you're wrong should be told that you want to see the manager.

Here's an irony: today in 1913, Walter "Rabbit" Maranville, a Hall of Fame baseball player, was thrown out trying to steal home three times in a single game. . . Record producer Jimmy Jam was born today in 1959. . . .Bulgarian singer and ballerina Mariana Popova gave her first note today in 1978. (Get it? Popover?). . . Professional golfer Brooke Pancake teed off her life today in 1990.

tagine, Moroccan, n.--Like many dishes, this stew of vegetables, meats, fruits, and savory vegetables is named for the utensil in which it's cooked. The bottom part is like a wide pan, traditionally made of clay, sometimes colorfully glazed and fired on the inside. It's covered with a tall lid in the shape of an upturned funnel. The top fits into the bottom closely enough that the steam coming from the slowly-cooking stew condenses and returns to the stew, keeping it moist. Lamb is the meat of choice, but tagines are also made with goat, fish, chicken, and beef. It's flavored with a wide range of spices, many of which are similar to those used in making Indian curry. Raisins and other dried fruits also go in, giving the flavor a sweet-spicy quality.

"Rarebit. n. A Welsh rabbit, in the speech of the humorless, who point out that it is not a rabbit. To whom it may be solemnly explained that the comestible known as toad-in-a-hole is really not a toad, and that riz-de-veau à la financière is not the smile of a calf prepared after the recipe of a she banker."--Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary."I don't go for the nouvelle approach--serving a rabbit rump with coffee extract sauce and a slice of kiwi fruit."--Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet.

"Many are saved from sin by being so inept at it."--Mignon McLaughlin, American writer, born today in 1913.