Lebre à caçadora is interior cooking at its most traditional: hare from the open hills, jointed and browned, then braised slowly with onions, garlic, red wine, bay and — in the old way — a little of its own blood to thicken the sauce into something dark and glossy.
Lean, intense and unmistakably wild, it is served with bread or migas and belongs to the hunting tables of the Baixo Guadiana, where rabbit (coelho) is cooked much the same way for an everyday version. It is a dish that has all but vanished from the coast but survives in the serra, a taste of how this country ate before tourism.
⭐ Must-try:
Lebre à caçadora
Highlights
- Wild hare braised with onions and wine
- Sauce thickened in the old country way
- Lean, intense and gamey
- Rabbit cooked the same for everyday
- From the hunting tables of the interior
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference from rabbit?
Lebre (hare) is wilder and leaner than coelho (rabbit), which is cooked the same way for an everyday dish.
Is it widely available?
It survives mainly in interior village restaurants rather than on the coast.