The Rex du Poitou

The Rex du Poitou is an exceptional rabbit, with many virtues. Passionate breeders take care of them through artisan production methods, and by taking the time to do their jobs well.

This is the result of the careful association between a breeding technique and a noble rabbit race named Orylag®. Rex du Poitou® is a trademark and a proof of quality. It got a number of awards: Coq d’Or in 1996, cooked for the Bocuse d’Or in 2014, praised by the Cercle Culinaire de France and quoted in the Hachette Guide of good products and the Guide des gourmands (the foodie’s guide).

Rex du Poitou rabbits are bred 120 days and enjoy a slow growth process. They are exclusively fed with lucerne, corn, rape and wheat (all guaranteed GMO-free). This type of food guarantees the consistent quality of their flesh.

Their fine flesh is juicy and flavoursome – almost “marbled” – which makes it the king amongst rabbits and a staple amongst great chefs and restaurant managers.

Rex du poitou

Ambassador of Rex du Poitou

I accepted to offer my support to the breeders of Rex du Poitou for their daily struggle. This is a struggle against all fierce opponents of meat products – who are numerous and too violent at present. I, myself, am a militant omnivorous provided that the animals’ well-being is respected during breeding and killing); this is also a struggle for quality by breeding the best rabbits against competitors less scrupulous, with disproportionate volumes and means.

The rabbits help them, too – the same rabbits who would prefer dying of hunger before eating the vile mixtures served to the poor battery hens. The result is the Rex, king amongst rabbits, pampered by the breeders to provide a flesh matching that of the best certified poultry. All those who cooked it consider it unrivalled.

My aim is to support these respectful breeders and to have recognized the gastronomic singularity of the Rex that I decided to get on my proud steed (or rather on my big rabbit), as a knight of all things gastronomical, to erode common beliefs, defending this noble cause and the honest people serving it.

Long live the king !… I mean, long live the Rex !

Vincent Ferniot
Food Journalist and Restaurant Manager
Le Terre est notre métier, philosophie sarde pour nourrir nos consciences

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Preface

It is also the fruit of a bond built over more than a quarter of a century between Orylag breeders and the author Gianfranco Ciampi. They share a certain green philosophy in which humans, animals and agriculture are tied together within an ethical code that only love and mutual respect are able to define !

“If you love, you act as a responsible man”: Saint Augustine – whose first tomb was located in Sardinia – defines responsible liberty in these terms, as a source of harmony and balance that drive us every day.

Sardinia… it is indeed all about Sardinia. This magnificent island succeeded in protecting itself against the influence of the continent - following the desire of its islanders - by preserving a pastoral way of like while at the same time opening itself to agrotourism. Thus, visitors passing by in the summer would take back other things than memories of a blue sea and a generous nature.

The writings of Gianfranco Ciampi are also a plea to reconcile nature with city-dwellers who seem to suffer from environmental amnesia. As some researchers and philosophers point out, the further away from nature one lives, the more one forgets its original value.

However, this work is first and foremost a foundational piece announcing a good omen – that of a land that has been found again providing a fertile ground for women and men in search of values, for the noble crafts that are breeding and agriculture.

Jean Boutteaud