Gelderland is the largest and the greenest province smack in the middle of the country. The landscape is very diverse: seemingly endless meadows, farmlands, dense forests, picturesque little towns, and a few larger cities like Arnhem with a very important role during the Second World War. In an attempt to end the Second World War, the French dropped thousands of parachutes in the Netherlands, so that a few key positions could be liberated. The most important one is a bridge in Arnhem. If you are interested in the full story they made a movie about it, “A Bridge Too Far”

Thing you didn’t know about Gelderland:

• The Betuwe is a region in Gelderland with a lot of orchards that produce: apples, pears, cherries, plums, and strawberries.
• In the forests of the Veluwe you can find our own Dutch Big Five: Fox, Badger, Roe deer, Wild Boar, Red deer
• It is also the province where most castles in the Netherlands are still standing. You can visit many of those castles, but some still have a baron, count, or duke.
• There is nothing left to see of the Roman era in Nijmegen, but of course, you can if you go to the Valkhof museum there. There you can see how the Romans lived 2000 years ago

Hazenpeper or harepepper. This was my grandfather’s favorite food and something my dad still has very fond memories about. I however did not care for it as a child, now my tastebuds have matured I learned to appreciate the strong gamey taste of hare. Now I love it!

Ingredients:

• 2 kilo hare legs
• 750 ml red wine
• 400 ml water
• 2 onions (sliced)
• 1 carrot (sliced)
• 1 leek (sliced)
• 1 clove of garlic (sliced)
• 5 juniper berries
• 5 springs of flatleaf parsley
• 1 bayleaf
• 5 springs of thyme
• 3 sprigs of marjoram
• 4 tbsp of olive oil
• 100 gr bacon (diced)
• 80 gr pearl onions
• 30 gr sugar
• 150 gr of gingerbread
• 30 gr dark chocolate
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Marinate the hare legs for 24 hours in red wine, water, onion, carrot, leek, garlic, juniper, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, marjoram and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
2. Strain the marinade and pat the hare legs dry with kitchen paper.
3. Fry the bacon until soft in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and through a sieve
4. Put the bacon aside for a while.
5. Sear the legs in the bacon fat, add the marinade and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for 2 hours.
6. Remove the legs from the cooking liquid, let it cool slightly. Pull the meat from the bones and bring the cooking liquid back to a boil.
7. Let it simmer until the liquid is 1 cm above the meat.
8. Fry the pearl onions in butter and sprinkle with sugar. Let caramelize till light brown.
9. Assemble the hare pepper by adding the gingerbread crumbs while stirring and let them dissolve.
10. Add the fried bacon, pearl onions and chocolate and season with salt and pepper.