Fermo
meat and to make it more tender, tasty and succulent, as
in the case of an old female rabbit. The recipe requires
to bone properly the rabbit, to fill it with minced pork,
ham, bacon or ciauscolo, rabbit liver and to flavour it
with garlic, fennel, rosemary, pepper and salt; then it
must be wrapped on itself, sewn and tied with a kitchen
twine, carefully moistened with extra virgin olive oil, put
in a hot oven (preferably a wood one) and then baked
slowly. Before serving, the twine must be removed, and
the meat can be cut into slices or pieces. Traditionally,
this succulent preparation was combined with a vintage
red wine that was produced with the local red grapes of
Sangiovese and Montepulciano; it was the precursor of
the modern Rosso Piceno, fresh and fragrant with hints
of cherries and violets, with a good alcohol structure,
balanced by acidity. In modern times, abandoning the
“old female” rabbit (leathery and tough) you can uncork
a good bottle of white wine, a structured Falerio Peco-
rino, with high acidity and a soft alcohol, with a persi-
stence both on the nose and on the palate, with notes
of yellow fruit and flowers.
