It is a well-known fact that clear soup made from rabbit or Belgian hare, especially the latter, has a greater amount of nourishment than clear soup made from beef and mutton.

Skin, clean and singe a good-sized hare; cut off the hindlegs and shoulders, divide the remaining part into three pieces. Put two tablespoonfuls of olive oil in a saucepan; add an onion sliced. Cook slowly without browning. Cut the rabbit into pieces; roll each piece in flour, drop the pieces in the oil, shake until a golden brown, being careful not to brown the oil. Add a bay leaf, a saltspoonful of celery seed, and two quarts of boiling water; bring to boiling point and skim; cover and simmer gently for an hour and a half; add a level teaspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of pepper. Take up the hare, remove the meat from the bones, cut it in blocks. Strain the soup, return it to the kettle; add the meat, a teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet and a teaspoonful of mushroom ketchup. Put into a tureen two hard-boiled eggs, and half a lemon cut in thin slices; pour the soup over this, and serve at once with crescent-shaped croûtons.