Welsh Rarebit – AKA Grilled Cheese

The only thing I can cook is Welsh rarebit. – Ian Rush

I happen to enjoy grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches.  – Chuck Feeney

 

So folks, just what is rarebit…. Hope you are sitting down. It is a cheese dip. Yep, extremely popular on Tilly’s island in the North Atlantic. You know, Great Britain.

I hate to tell Tilly and her British comrades. It is actually from ancient Rome.

Tilly: Not sure about that. See https://gggiraffe.blogspot.com/2008/06/rabbiting-on-about-cheese-and-rarebit.html   – c 1000 BCE: in the Bible, David escaped across the River Jordan he was fed with ‘cheese of kine’ (cows) (2 Samuel 17:29), and it is said that he presented ten cheeses to the captain of the army drawn up to do battle with Saul (1 Samuel 17:18).

– c 8th Century BCE: Homer in The Odyssey describes the Cyclops making and storing sheep’s and goats’ milk cheese

– 1st Century BCE: Virgil loved it and once wrote, ‘Yet this night you might have rested here with me o this green leafage. We have ripe apples, mealy chestnuts and a wealth of pressed cheese.’

– 1546: John Heywood wrote in Proverbes that “the moon is made of a greene cheese.”

– 1602: In the Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare wrote, ‘I will make an end to my dinner, there’s pippins and cheese to come’

– 19th Century: “Many’s the long night I’ve dreamed of cheese — toasted, mostly.” Robert Louis Stevenson

A cheese sauce with bread was BOUND to have been consumed.

But before we get into that original recipe, a bit of history. In ancient Rome they made a cheese sauce called Moretum, with some strange ingredients in it. Moretum is an herb cheese spread that the Ancient Romans ate with bread. A typical moretum was made of herbs, fresh cheese, salt, oil, and vinegar. Optionally, different kinds of nuts could be added. The ingredients were crushed together in a mortar, after which the dish is named, then spread on bread. No, it is nothing like the modern-day rarebit. Just remember those Roman soldiers that overtook Tilly’s island, they took the recipe with them.

Tilly: In folk tradition, Welsh rarebit is believed to cause nightmares. On September 10, 1904, Winsor McCay created a cartoon, ‘Dream of the Rarebit Fiend.’ Characters would eat Welsh Rarebit before going to bed, and the strip would depict their dreams, neither ‘pleasant’ visions, nor straightforward nightmares, but flying cottages, oversized neighbours, and domestic pests swollen to grotesque proportions. https://inquisitiveeater.com/2020/05/06/poet-of-the-month-strange-beast-on-welsh-rarebit-by-oscar-mardell/

Let’s start with the name: is it Welsh Rabbit or Welsh Rarebit?

Tilly: Fowler (1926): “Welsh Rabbit is amusing and right. Welsh Rarebit is stupid and wrong.”

Well, in John Byron’s private journal and literary remains (1725), historians found the first recorded word: “’I did not eat of cold beef, but of Welsh rabbit and stewed cheese.”

Tilly: Not sure how they found this reference because on Lord Byron’s death in 1824, Moore, Murray, John Cam Hobhouse, and other friends who were concerned for Byron’s reputation gathered together and burned the original manuscript and the only known copy of it, in what has been called the greatest literary crime in history. But maybe they saved the non-juicy bits to collate the literary remains …

So just where did “rarebit” come from? Historians are very clear on how it took place, but rarebit was first recorded in 1785. Today in Wales, England, and in Scotland, using “rabbit” is considered somewhat vulgar, hence the reason it is “rarebit”.

Tilly: https://www.cheeseprofessor.com/blog/welsh-rarebit  : As a word nerd I was curious about the name Welsh Rabbit and Welsh Rarebit. There’s no definitive proof that it’s actually a Welsh dish, so why is Welsh in the name? The use of “Welsh” was used an insult in the 1700s in Britain in the same way as the word “welch” was used as a pejorative. Or it may have been because the Welsh had a reputation for liking cheese. As for rabbit and rarebit, that’s murky as well. One theory is that only the rich were allowed or able to or could afford to eat rabbit, so this cheesy toast was a poor person’s substitute. Rarebit is sometimes used instead of rabbit it is only used in this dish and nowhere else. The word rarebit is considered a corruption of the word rabbit and was first referred to as rare bit.

What is the first recorded recipe for this open grilled cheese sandwich?

Olive: Tilly is going to love that one.

Tilly: What’s not to love about a good rarebit, with plenty of spice and beer?

Well, look to Hannah Glasse, has four recipes for the dish. One is Scottish, one is Welsh and two of the recipes are English: 1747 cookbook The Art of Cookery, gives close variants “Scotch rabbit”, “Welsh rabbit” and two versions of “English rabbit”:

• To make a Scotch rabbit, toast a piece of bread very nicely on both sides, butter it, cut a slice of cheese about as big as the bread, toast it on both sides, and lay it on the bread.
• To make a Welsh rabbit, toast the bread on both sides, then toast the cheese on one side, lay it on the toast, and with a hot iron brown the other side. You may rub it over with mustard.
• To make an English rabbit, toast a slice of bread brown on both sides, lay it in a plate before the fire, pour a glass of red wine over it, and let it soak the wine up; then cut some cheese very thin and lay it very thick over the bread, and put it in a tin oven before the fire, and it will be toasted and browned presently. Serve it away hot.
• Or do it thus. Toast the bread and soak it in the wine, set it before the fire, cut your cheese in very thin slices, rub butter over the bottom of a plate, lay the cheese on, pour in two or three spoonfuls of white wine, cover it with another plate, set it over a chafing-dish of hot coals for two or three minutes, then stir it till it is done and well mixed. You may stir in a little mustard; when it is enough lay it on the bread, just brown it with a hot shovel.”

According to Hannah if you serve it with a egg on top, it is called either a buck rabbit or golden bush. In Welsh rarebit, if blended with tomato, it is called a blushing bunny.

Olive: Tilly here is a good one for ya. Did you know that in France it is called “Welsh Lillie”. Most historians believe that rarebit arrived by a Welsh garrison stationed near Boulogne-Sur-Mer in 1544. Below is their recipe.

Ingredients for 4 pers.

Cheddar 800 g

Egg(s) 4

Country bread 4 slice(s)

White ham 4 slice(s)

Strong mustard 2 tbsp.

Blonde beer 16 cl

Pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C (thermostat 6). In individual gratin dishes or in a large dish, arrange the slices of country bread. Place a slice of white ham on each piece of bread. Grate the cheddar and melt it in a saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. When the melted cheese coats the spoon, moisten it with the lager. Continue stirring until you get a smooth consistency. Then add the mustard and mix again. Spread the cheddar and beer mixture over the slices of bread covered with ham.

Bake the whole Welsh for 10 minutes.

A few minutes before cooking, cook the eggs fried. When they come out of the oven, place a fried egg on top of each whole meal Welsh. Serve immediately with a twist of pepper.

Tilly: Now here’s a recipe with a proper Welsh ‘lillie’ – not daffodils:

Welsh Rarebit with Leeks

(from Delicious Magazine)

Serves 4 as a light meal, or 2 for a very filling meal

1 large leek or 2 small leeks, trimmed and washed

1 tbsp unsalted butter

4 thick slices good sourdough bread

150g grated mature Cheddar or double Gloucester cheese

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp English mustard (I used mustard powder)

Pinch cayenne pepper

2-3 tbsp beer – or more

Finely slice leeks (including some of the green part). Melt butter and cook leeks over medium heat for 5 minutes or til soft and wilted (mine took longer). Set aside.

Lightly toast bread on both sides in grill or toaster.

Add remainder of ingredients to the saucepan of leeks. Only add 2 tbsp of beer initially and then add an extra tbsp if needed. The cheese sauce should be of a gloopy consistency.

Divide sauce between pieces of toast and spread to cover each piece. Place under the grill for two minutes or until scorched, hot and melting. I served ours with a green salad and corn on the cob.

As for America, it is not a popular dish. For Americans toast is considered a breakfast food. The only other time we use toast is for a sandwich. And Tilly, it has cheese of a variety flavors, sometimes a slice of tomato is added and cooked (grilled) in a hot skillet until browned and cheese has melted.

Olive:Tilly, our version is so good.

Tilly: Oh, dreary me, Olive, you Americans never add Worcestershire sauce, cayenne, mustard, and paprika to liven up the bland toasted cheese … nor the beer or ale. Think fondue rather than cheese spread!

And you forgot the The Hot Brown – turkey and bacon layered on slices of toasted bread, covered in Welsh Rarebit sauce. Not Welsh, but the name comes from the Brown Hotel in Louisville KY, USA, where it was first served.

Tidbit 3rd September it is Welsh Rarebit Day.

Olive’s recipe for Welsh rabbit or Rarebit:

1 or more slices of good French Bread or Sour Dough Bread, French Boule, or a good English muffin.

1 or more scoops of your favorite cheese dip

Toast the bread of your choice and spread a healthy helping of that cheese dip. And there you have it… Olive’s version of Welsh rarebit.

Tilly: Hmm … I don’t think that’s a winner … So for a good laugh, enjoy Monty Python’s Cheese Shop sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1JWzyvv8A

Olive and Tilly