In Western Europe, rabbits reared on the 60-65 larger domestic farms are in high demand. The demand for rabbit meat is still very low in Hungary, but it could be a real delicacy for the local gastronomy, and a very healthy one at that. In recent years, consumption has doubled from 15-20 deka/person/year, which shows the interest in rabbit meat, but it is still hardly to be found in restaurants. No wonder, then, that it is less likely to find its way onto the family table, for reasons of “I tasted it somewhere and liked it”.
She is the export manager of Olivia Ltd. in lajosmizse, which is also engaged in rabbit breeding and processing and rabbit meat marketing, Lajos Radics only two slaughterhouses are sufficient to meet Hungarian needs. But rabbit was already loved in ancient times and was often on the menu in Egypt and the Roman Empire.
- They have a table on their website comparing the properties of different meats. According to this, rabbit meat is the best, healthiest meat in every respect.
- I would rather say. among the healthiest meats - clarifies Lajos Radics. It is rich in protein and essential amino acids, but low in fat and cholesterol. It also has less energy than beef or pork. Importantly, it is low in sodium, which is why it is highly recommended for people with high blood pressure. Rabbit is a white meat, which also means it is easy to digest. It does not cause allergic reactions and is rich in B vitamins and high in iron.
- With all this in mind, do you like rabbit meat?
- I would love to, but they don't really want to eat it at home. The problem is that rabbits are regarded in the same way as they are in Hungarian households. Bunnies are nice animals, just like dogs, for example, and they don't eat nice, cute animals. Of course, Donald the duck in the story is cute, and we do eat ducks. Besides, the reason why housewives are not fond of rabbits is that they are difficult to cook well, because they can easily dry out and become chipped and have insufficient gravy. But at the company, when we have our annual dinner, rabbit is the main course.
- As I understand it, you do not recommend rabbit for beginners.
- I would rather say that you should read up on it if you have no experience in preparing it. To give you an important piece of advice straight away: two of the rabbit's favourite spices are rosemary and thyme.
- To what tastes similar?
- Domestic rabbit tastes most like chicken, or more specifically chicken breasts. We slaughter the animals at 10-12 weeks of age, which most of it is edible. What is left over is also processed and turned into animal feed. The thighs are less dry, the most valuable part is the backbone, but my favourite part is the fat, because that's where most of the fat is.
- Is it too early to slaughter a rabbit at 10-12 weeks?
- We breed a meat-type breed, the Pannon white, which we developed together with the University of Kaposvár. The most meat can be obtained from this at about three months of age. If we would keep it longer, the extra feed and energy used would cost more than the gain.
- Do they like Pannon in Switzerland? I've seen that they export a lot of rabbits there.
- In Switzerland too! The reason why we deliver there on a weekly basis is because the parent company of Olivia Ltd. is Swiss. But now we can say that our products are sold almost everywhere in Europe. In the western part of the continent, we sell much more than we do here in Hungary. The biggest markets are France, Italy and Germany, where rabbits are eaten on a weekly basis.
- How is business these days?
- We have also felt the COVID epidemic, as we used to deliver a lot to hotels and restaurants. As there is a big downturn in tourism, there is also less rabbit being sold in these places. And you should also know that rabbit is a seasonal product. People eat it mostly from autumn to spring, and less in summer. When the holidays come and they start ringing out in schools, it's like ringing out for sales.
- Back to the kitchen! What to make of rabbit?
- Almost anything, and to help you decide, I'd like to recommend a great Swiss site where you can find some very good recipes. To mention just one, the spicy meatballs, which are offered to housewives almost ready-made, are very good. But as we produce mainly for foreign markets and season our products carefully, it is worthwhile to season them according to local customs.
- Are more rabbits being sold in this country than, say, a few years ago?
- Unfortunately, we have almost zero domestic sales, which means we export almost everything. The Matusz-Vad combot and liver but we hope that sooner or later our fillets, shoulder blades and whole rabbits will be available.#
