Pull a rabbit out of the hat

Whether seasoned with thyme and cider baked into a juicy pie or grilled over coals until perfectly crispy, rabbit makes for some magnificent dishes. It's madness that we no longer enjoy it as we once did, laments Tom Parker Bowles

- Tom Parker Bowles

RUN rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run,’ warn those great Cockney chanteurs Chas & Dave. ‘Don’t give the farmer his fun, fun, fun.’ The song, which is rather darker than its jaunty tone suggests, was a childhood favourite, endlessly repeated on the old record player in our father’s study. We far preferred their rowdy, rambunctious cover to the polite and proper wartime original. ‘He’ll get by without his rabbit pie,’ they growled, ‘so run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run.’ My sister, who had a large, indolent creature called Loppy Lugs, was very much on the side of Thumper. I, on the other hand, thought that rabbit pie sounded splendid —and was all for the farmer having his fun.