Chicken, Rabbit and Pork in Pale Jelly

Cut the meat into pieces about 4 cm across, keeping each type separate. Cover the chicken and rabbit and refrigerate until the second cooking stage. Quarter the onion, lightly crush the garlic, and cut the carrots into rounds about 1 cm thick; set the carrots aside separately. Lightly crush the juniper berries. Have ready a pot with a capacity of about 3 l and a diameter of about 20 cm, plus two shallow food containers with bases about 20 × 15 cm and a capacity of at least 1 l each.

Put the pork, onion, garlic, juniper, peppercorns, bay leaf and thyme in the pot. Add 1000 ml water, all the wine and vinegar, and all the salt. Bring to a gentle boil, skim off the foam and reduce the heat. Cover and cook for about 60 minutes, keeping the liquid at a bare simmer; do not brown the meat. Keep it just below the surface of the liquid throughout cooking, adding small amounts of hot water from the 200 ml reserve if needed.

Add the rabbit and chicken, return to a gentle boil, then continue cooking, covered, over low heat for about 60–75 minutes. Add all the carrots about 25 minutes before the end. The meat should be tender, with fibers that separate easily with a fork; as each type becomes tender, lift it with a clean slotted spoon into a clean bowl and cover loosely. If the pork or rabbit still offers noticeable resistance, cook it longer, keeping the more delicate pieces that are already done out of the pot. Remove the carrots when tender but still holding their shape.

Sprinkle the gelatin evenly into 70 ml cold water, stir and let bloom for about 10 minutes. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding the onion, garlic and all solid seasonings. Spoon off and discard any visible free fat on the surface. Measure exactly 650 ml strained broth; discard the excess. If there is less, bring it up to 650 ml with the remaining reserve water, then discard any unused water. Divide all the cooked meat and carrots between the containers, keeping larger pieces rather than mashing them into a paste.

Heat the measured broth until hot and visibly steaming, then take the pot off the heat. Add all the bloomed gelatin with its water and stir until fully dissolved; do not boil after adding it. Divide all the liquid evenly over the meat and carrots, gently moving the pieces so it fills the gaps. The food in each container should be no more than about 4 cm deep. The gelatin sets the measured amount of broth; do not add any more liquid.

Set the containers in a cold-water bath, keeping the water below their rims. Cool for about 30 minutes, changing the water if it warms up, until the contents are no longer hot; then refrigerate promptly and cover. Chill for at least 12 hours, until the jelly has set throughout the dish. Divide the contents of both containers into six servings and serve straight from the refrigerator, using a broad spatula to lift out pieces of meat with the surrounding jelly. Do not expect thin, perfectly even slices like those of a pressed pâté.