Falscher Hase

Falscher Hase. Fake rabbit. That’s the translation. So this is not meat?.. Ehm..Not exactly. But at least you don’t need a rabbit. You do need meat. Whether it will be the meat we all know or the vegan versions of it is all up to the ones who order. It’s definitely easier to find a real meat version.

So anyway what is this thing? Well, it’s actually meatloaf. Which of course is an international fashion. This is Berlin’s version. Ground beef and pork meat make up the main ingredient of the minced meat mass. In addition, the “wrong rabbit” is filled in the middle with hard-boiled eggs and some slices of bacon.

The eggs are first hard-boiled and leftover bread rolls from the day before are soaked in hot water. The onions are cut into small cubes. The minced meat is served with soaked rolls, breadcrumbs, Onions, mustard, Eggs, and spices mixed together. All together they form an elongated loaf from the minced dough. Then a hard-boiled egg is pressed into the mass in several places and covered with the minced meat batter. Why is it called fake or false bunny?

There are several theories: One says the name comes from the roasting pans that were used to make meatloaf in earlier centuries. They were called rabbit pans or rabbit roasters. The name could also be a reference to the shape of the roast, which looks like the back of a hare. The name “false rabbit” can also come from the time after the Second World War, when many families could not afford a real rabbit for a Sunday roast because their stock was very small Food was available, but the housewives still wanted to put a Sunday roast on the table for the whole family.