How to say Rabbit or Bunny + Easter in France
Wednesday, April 08, 2015
"Where's my chocolate bone?" Smokey, a day or two after Easter. I post pictures daily at Instagram. Follow me, here, to see what's next...
le lapin
: rabbit, bunny
Improve your French pronunciation with Exercises in French phonetics. Click here.
AUDIO FILE: Listen to Jean-Marc read this list of lapin terms and the example sentence which follows: Download MP3 or Download Lapin
le coup du lapin = whiplash
le civet de lapin = rabbit stew
le lapin nain = dwarf rabbit
poser un lapin = to stand somebody up, to not show up for a date.
avoir des dents de lapin = to have buck teeth
En France, les oeufs en chocolat sont apportés par les cloches de Pâques et non pas un lapin. In France, chocolate eggs are brought by the Easter Bells and not a bunny.
Lapin is also featured in this long list of French Terms of Endearment.
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE... by Kristin Espinasse
Our neighbor stopped by yesterday with un petit colis for our family. But when she handed me the freezer bag I saw an eye staring back at me!
"C'est le lapin que je t'ai promis," Annie explained.
Well, the day had come! It had been easy, last fall, to accept Annie's offer as we strolled arm in arm. Walking past her rabbit hutch, we were delivering les plantes sauvages we had just collected from the field that joins our properties. Her rabbits feed on the wild fennel, the plantain, and the luzerne, or alfalfa, that thrives at the foot of the giant fig tree. After 6 months of feasting, they are ready, themselves, to eat....
Standing on my front porch, this many months later, holding the chilled bag (which sunk right into my hands, molding into them as the bag's contents settled), I cleared my throat. "Thank you, Annie... I'll be right back!"
Hurrying to the kitchen I set the skinned rabbit gently in the frigo... eyes facing the back wall. Next, after a one minute composure pause, I returned with a cup of coffee for my guest.
Annie was sitting on the concrete bench that runs the length of our front porch. She is familiar with the cozy spot, having watched over this property for decades. The tenderness that she shared with Maggie and Michael, who sold us their home in late summer of 2012, was transferred to us like an Easter basket: brimming with treasures and sweetness, yet discreet and shining in the background, waiting to be found.
Unsure how to broach the rabbit topic, I pushed a small tray of Easter chocolates across the picnic table toward Annie. There were symbolic eggs and fish, turtles and the famous bells (in France, it is les cloches that deliver the eggs, and not the Easter bunny.... if only they could deliver me from this next chore...).
Our grocer was out of Easter chocolates, but the boulangerie sold these
Chewing anxiously on a chocolate bell, my mind hopped through the fields of French history, as I tried to come to grips with the task at hand. After all, French countrywomen have kept rabbits from time immemorial! Most families had clapiers, or cage aux lapins and were skilled in animal husbandry. Even my aunt-in-law raises rabbits and turkeys for Christmas dinner!
...Others of us, habituated by the sight of chicken legs or hamburger patties, feel uneasy when presented with meat in its entirety...
Perhaps Annie sensed the thoughts burbling through my head like a pot of rabbit stew. And there, she offered her own wisdom ... in an industrialized world where chicken legs are shrinkwrapped and sold by the dozen:
"Au moin on sait d'où ça viens et dans quelle conditions." At least we know where it comes from and under which conditions.
French Vocabulary
un colis = package
C'est le lapin que je t'ai promis = it's the rabbit I promised you
une plante sauvage = wild plant
le frigo = fridge
une cloche = bell
Most of us love most French culture, but is there anything the French do that doesn't appeal to you? Thanks for sharing here in the comments box.
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Hi, Kristin, from cloudy Spain where I've cooked (and eaten) many a hare. Even had to be careful of the buckshot when chewing it, but yours is a domestic rabbit so that shouldn't be a problem for you! Whatever you do, keep the head and cook it along with the rest of the rabbit. They say the eyes and brains are some of the tastiest parts. And I don't say this to gross you out. Just quarter it, sear the parts, make a roux, and add some of the bounty of your garden, plus what we call the "Holy Trinity" - onions, bell pepper, celery, and don't forget a couple of heads of garlic. And some red wine of course! Turnips, potatoes, carrots would all be good. I can smell it now! I'll be over for lunch :-)
Posted by: Augusta Elmwood | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 01:00 PM
Généralement, les français n'ont pas de moustiquaires aux fênetres. Je ne l'aime pas parce qu'il y a beaucoup d'insectes en France. Sans moustiquaires, soit on doit fermer les fênetres bien qu'il fait chaud, soit on laisse ouvert les fênetres et "apprécier" les insectes.
Posted by: Gail R. | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 01:23 PM
It's not what people do but it's the style of showers. The curtain or other closure only covers half the tub. It's a challenge to keep water from spraying all over the bathroom. I would love to know why this style is used.
Posted by: Joyce White | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 01:29 PM
We invited my daughter's family to a roast beef dinner one Sunday and the conversation at table turned to favorite foods. I commented that I love beef tongue but that it is hard to find these days.
My son in law said something like "Ewwwww! I'd never eat that!"
"You do realize that you are enjoying rump roast," I grinned.
Posted by: Fay Plauche' Butler | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 01:36 PM
I don't like the amount of smoking the French do; the part of their cuisine that features organ meats, frogs' legs, snails, songbirds; their snobbery and racism.
(And just in case you ask for the next time,, the positive far outweighs the negative. I love the French Open, the language, the painting, sculpture and architecture, the rest of the food, the climate, and of course the wine as just a few examples.)
Posted by: Katherine | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 02:15 PM
So much to love about France, but just a twinge of anxiety about the treatment of animals - how often do you see some darling little French bulldog with a diamanté collar in a village, alongside other poor skinny creatures, chucked out of doors at the start of the day to fend for themselves, or chained up on an allotment without shade. There has to be a happy medium between the two, but personally I haven't seen it. And don't get me started on skeletal hunting dogs.....
Posted by: Jenny Barton | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 02:22 PM
Gail R's comment brought back memories of sometimes longing for screens on the windows... at times during the summer when pesky flies were about. When I complained a French friend explained, "but it is 'nature'." Now back in the breezeless, mosquito infested south how I long for the freedom of those unfettered fenêtres. :-)
Posted by: Cindy Mc | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 02:38 PM
I remember years ago when my wife and I were out for an early morning walk in Paris and came around the corner of a street right onto a pallet of rabbits, all nicely stretched out ready to be skinned. My only complaint about the French culture is that most of the houses and apartments we have rented include a washer, but not a dryer, and they're often in places where hanging your laundry out to dry outside is not a possibility.
Posted by: Bill in St. Paul | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 03:10 PM
"Where's my chocolate bone?"
I hope you're joking! Chocolate is poisonous to dogs.
My wife has been leery about eating "bunny" since her childhood. Just recently, she decided that's just childish, and has embarked on a course to prepare a rabbit dish at least once every other week using "best" recipes from our French friends. Because rabbit is very low in fat, she has found it's best to braise the rabbit for at least a couple of hours or it can be a bit tough. It's still not her favorite, but she's now willing go fix it for me every once in a while.
Posted by: John | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 03:14 PM
Although chocolate is hazardous to dogs (as well as people, like me, who are allergic to cocoa), carob is safe. Small gourmet treats baked with carob and peanut butter for the canine set are sold here locally at some pet stores and cafes*. (* Cafes for humans, where dogs are allowed at the outdoor seating).
Posted by: Trina, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 03:28 PM
We two Americans went with a French couple to a wonderful, tiny, gourmet restaurant in Meuse. Six tables, the husband was the chef, the wife was the server.
The two women in our group both ordered quail. You can imagine the look on my girlfriend's face when her plate arrived with the entire quail — eyes, beak, two little legs sticking up in the air — on it.
Our French friend said, "Would it be possible —"
Madame la patronne interrupted to say, in an exasperated tone as she picked up both plates, "He insists on doing that so people will know the birds are fresh. I keep telling him no one likes it, but he won't stop."
Two minutes later, both quail were back on the table, dressed to look like miniature roasters from the grocery store.
Posted by: Bruce in Northwest Connecticut | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 03:43 PM
I too would have trouble eating the rabbit I had seen as a neighbor! I know that's silly but I don't eat duck because my Grandma let me raise one on her farm(I named the duckling,it was "mine") Then came the dreadful night when it was grown, served for dinner, and Grandma announced "It's Joy's duck tonight"--I fled from the table in tears. I still do not eat duck, nor do I eat rabbit, so I can relate to your dilemma!
Posted by: Joy Bryden | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 03:45 PM
Kristin, my mom cooked rabbit once. I tasted it tentatively and decided that, as with most white meat, it tasted like chicken. My mom also told my sister, who was very young at the time, that she was, in fact, eating chicken.
As for what I don't like about French culture, I would agree about the non-existing shower curtains, on my husband's behalf. However, I have noticed that many European households do not have curtains. It's also true for Germany, Austria and Poland. I generally enjoy French culture, but I agree with a previous poster that the snobbery has gotten to be old. I was sneered at a couple of times for not drinking wine, and my husband got the cold shoulder for declining to taste the cheese from the cheese platter, since he doesn't enjoy many varieties of cheese. I know that many French people in their 30s (my age) are adopting alternative diets (plant-based, gluten-free, etc.), so perhaps we will start to see a big change in the attitude toward food in France. I wonder about that.
Posted by: Katia | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 03:59 PM
Clearly it is becoming more difficult to eat animals for some, but as a cooking teacher for many years and as a child growing up on a farm, one has to realize that buying chicken in a package is just the same as being handed a fresh package of meat from a kind neighbour. I, too, now have problems passing the animals in a meat market in Rome or France, but hey, you're most likely wearing leather shoes and using other animal products. Not eating meat for health or moral reasons is just fine, but a rabbit is not going to think up answers to world hunger. It will, however, help alleviate it.
Posted by: Suzanne Dunaway | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 04:00 PM
I truly enjoyed this Easter segment!!! (I enjoy all of them!!). This one , however, I will use to start my French classes at John A. Coleman Catholic. Culture & vocabulary. Today we start "La Ferme." Merci, encore pour toute l'information et prononciation. Terèse
Posted by: [email protected] | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 04:04 PM
As a child in Chicago, I adored my succession of pet rabbits. So, when a classmate in France invited me to her family's home in the countryside, I was happy to see pet rabbits in the backyard. The nest day, eating a sumptuous meal with the family, I wondered what was in the stew. Then, I noticed the carcas in the pan near the sink. I immediately felt nauseous, excused myself, and threw up in the bathroom. I'm sure lapin is a delicacy for many, but I can't stomach it.
Posted by: Linda Williams Rorem | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 04:06 PM
Eating rabbit is one French thing (though not uniquely French) that does not appeal to me.
Posted by: Marshall Brass | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 04:14 PM
When I lived in Korea they eat dog. Right ow I can't think of anything I did not like when doing the study abroad.
Posted by: Gail | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 04:17 PM
The reason that the curtains/dividers/whatevers around bathtubs are set up the way they are is that most French people don't take showers. They take baths. The shower hose is just to rinse yourself off at the end. So no shower curtain is needed.
Posted by: Bruce in Northwest Connecticut | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 04:24 PM
Cindy Mc,
If you live in the breezeless south, surely you have AC, so neither mosquitoes nor unfettered windows should be an issue for you.
Posted by: VeeCee | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 04:32 PM
My husband's French aunt used to make a rabbit with mustard sauce when we would visit that makes me salivate just thinking of it. I would love to make it myself, and after reading your post I might try. But I would not welcome the task of butchering the rabbit. I'm afraid the rabbit would sit in the fridge unless someone else was willing to do it.
Posted by: Jackie Clark Mancuso | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 05:50 PM
Reminds me of a story about a French butcher qui aimait taquiner les touristes. An English lady asked him why he sold rabbit with the head on."Ah, madame," he replied solemnly,"c'est pour qu'on sache que c'est pas un chat."
Posted by: Anita | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 05:57 PM
Our dear Kristi,
Another wonderful post today,and one that makes us put on our thinking caps regarding both meat and its sources.I am totally and completely against animal cruelty in any and every way,but is there really a kind way to kill a creature ?
And yet I am not a vegetarian.
Love
Natalia Xo
Posted by: Natalia | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 06:27 PM
I wonder why you didn't ask your neighbor how she would prepare the rabbit. Perhaps she would have helped you, then the task would not have seemed so daunting.
Posted by: ellen | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 06:33 PM
Hi, Kristin, There must be a story behind "the bells bring chocolate
Easter eggs" tradition. What is it? When did it originate and where?Who began telling the story and why? Thanks. Joanne, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Posted by: Joanne Ablan | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 06:45 PM
I once fixed rabbit for Easter dinner, wanting to have something special, and I thought that as the children were past the Easter bunny stage it would be fine,it wasn't!!! in fact 20+ years later I still hear of the mishap from my children, now my grandchildren and this year even my sister told me that she would not tell her grandchildren that I had cooked the Easter rabbit. Having lived in France I came to love rabbit, but I do have a problem eating someone's pets or even the chickens who have produced dutifully and now thought they could gracefully retire..
Posted by: catharine ewart-touzot | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 06:55 PM
This all reminds me of one of my favorite films, "Jean de Florette" with Gérard de Pardieu as the title character and his dream of raising and selling rabbits in the town market. Unfortunately, his neighbors played by Daniel Auteuil and Yves Montand have other plans! Tant pis! (But his daughter Manon gets revenge in the second part of the story.) Tant mieux!
Posted by: Bob Haine | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 07:34 PM
Delighted Annie has graced us once again with her dear presence!
Thank you, dear Kristi, for it is your sharing of this visit that has left a smile on my heart (and a giggle...).
Posted by: Stacy - Sweet Life Farm | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 07:55 PM
I can appreciate that the French as well as many other cultures use all parts of the animal. Much less waste. They seem to have a higher respect for their food and where it comes from. A far cry from the fast food drive through. On the other hand, I think the one thing I dislike the most is the large percentage of people who smoke. I prefer to sit outside at restaurants but that is where all the smokers are and the smoke can sometimes be intense. I am so not used to being around smokers anymore that I am quite sensitive to it now.
Posted by: Dawn Johnson | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 08:37 PM
I have a memory from my first year of teaching fourth-graders. One boy's family invited me for dinner, and I was surprised by the rabbit dinner! I admit that the thought of eating rabbit did not appeal to me, but it did taste like chicken, so I was able to enjoy the meal. Thank you, Kristi, for all of the wonderful ideas you share! (I have never been to France, so I do not have an opinion on anything I might not like, but I like reading about the things your readers have written. I do plan to travel to France soon!)
Posted by: Kim | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 08:45 PM
Wow! Who found those Easter treats hidden on the roof ? I always enjoy your posts and all of your photos on FWAD and on Instagram. I haven't traveled in France (except Paris) since I was in my teens; nothing bothered me then. One time we (parents and siblings) stayed in a very small "auberge" which had water in a large flowered pitcher with a bowl to match in each room for "washing up". I loved the novelty of it all. Of course, that was many years ago. Best wishes to all! P.S. Maybe Jean-Marc will cut the rabbit into pieces to make it more "chicken-like". By all means, do make a rabbit stew and invite Annie for dinner.
Posted by: Cynthia P. Lewis | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 09:45 PM
Force-feeding geese and ducks for foie gras. Killing an animal for food is disturbing enough, but at least it is usually swift. Foie gras exacts a life of misery before the ax finally comes down.
And smoking, which may be on its way to becoming too gross and low-class for the French, as it has for the Americans.
Posted by: Linda Lopez | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 09:48 PM
Our strange civilization that hides all food preparation in factories (including the farms themselves), preferring that to knowing where the food came from, as Annie said so well. I mean by 'our strange civilization' all of us city folk who did not grow up with the whole process, then think they are too superior to know what it is they eat. Mental boxes to separate essential parts of real life, maybe that is what I mean.
I cannot think of anything in French culture that I do not like. It is too much a source of fun, pleasure and another way to see the world for me.
Posted by: Sarah LaBelle near Chicago | Wednesday, April 08, 2015 at 11:54 PM
What I don't like.I like to sit outside at a Café or restaurant and unfortunately that is where all of the smokers are...ugh.
When we visit friends in the southwest of France,Lentillac du Cause, if we wanted rabbit that night, we would visit the neighbor and let her know and she would kill and clean up the rabbit and always leave the head on. As someone said,so that you know it is not a cat.
Posted by: Kathleen from Connecticut | Thursday, April 09, 2015 at 12:34 AM
I just looked at your recent Instagram posts and read this post, and I must say that I love Smoky and Breizh and the way that you and your family treat them. My compliments to your wonderful dogs and wonderful family, Leslie
Posted by: Leslie in Oregon | Thursday, April 09, 2015 at 01:52 AM
My dad raises rabbits to eat.
I don't like the high sided tubs since I have almost fallen several times trying to get in or out of the tub.
One thing I don' t like about the French is being on the metro de Paris next to someone who hasn't bathed or showered for days.
Posted by: Amelia | Thursday, April 09, 2015 at 02:06 AM
We absolutely adore France. I suppose the two things I do not like are the smoking and the not picking up of the dog mess on the sidewalks.
Posted by: Suzan | Thursday, April 09, 2015 at 02:43 AM
Beautiful photographs, as always! You do wonderful work, Kristin.
At considerable risk of disgracing myself, may I offer an addition to your collection of rabbit phrases ... "chaud lapin"?
My understanding is that thiis more-or-less equivalent to "horny", or "very interested in sex". However, there may be nuances that make it impolite, even crass, in ordinary conversation. Would you elucidate?
This is not a phrase I'll use very often ;-) but I am curious.
Posted by: Dana | Thursday, April 09, 2015 at 03:32 AM
Rabbit ! One of our favourite meals-Honey& Mustard Roast rabbit Delicious !
I guess our least favourite thing about France is the bureaucracy !! It has to be experienced to be believed.
Another slight niggle is when in the Bank or Post office & the phone goes & the assistant answers,engages in a long conversation & leaves you standing there
Apart from these I LOVE France & have lived herefor 20 years
Posted by: Audrey Wilson | Thursday, April 09, 2015 at 12:57 PM
Mr and Mrs Rabbit live in a hutch back of Notre Dame
Posted by: Herm in Phoenix, AZ | Thursday, April 09, 2015 at 04:47 PM
if you like rabbit,OK, but eating the brain is not safe. It can transmit a serious disease : la mixomatose! especially in the wild rabbits. Bon appetit !
Posted by: Odile | Thursday, April 09, 2015 at 05:51 PM
LOL, Herm. What would we do without your wonderful rhymes?
Just wanted to say a grand merci beaucoup to all of you for taking the time to write a comment. If you only knew the positive effect your words have on me. I am, right this minute, cooking that lapin and, thanks to Cynthia and her suggestion, have invited Annie over for lunch. Thank you all so much!
A new comment from “Herm in Phoenix, AZ” was received on the post “lapin” of the blog “French Word-A-Day”.
Comment:
Mr and Mrs Rabbit live in a hutch back of Notre Dame
Commenter name: Herm in Phoenix, AZ
Commenter email: [email protected]
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Posted by: Kristin Espinasse | Thursday, April 09, 2015 at 07:03 PM