English Rarebit (Toasted Cheese)

The name of this dish was cause for lively discussion on instagram. Is it a rarebit or a rabbit? Is it Welsh or English?

All my British friends assured me the dish is now referred to as a “rarebit.”

Whether or not it is English or Welsh likely depends on the eater’s locale. For clarity, I am calling it English Rarebit. No offense to the Welsh. Or anyone else.

What actually constitutes a rarebit, English, Welsh, or otherwise, is even more contested. Everyone agrees there must be cheese, ideally Cheddar, and thickly sliced bread, ideally white. From there matters get muddy.

Let me backtrack a bit. Jane Grigson, writing in English Food, cites one Mr. J. Byrom, who mentions eating “Welsh rabbit” in his journal. The year was 1725. By 1747, when Hannah Glasse publishes The Art of Cookery, Scotch, Welsh, and English Rabbits are differentiated. Notably, English Rabbits call for toasting the bread before pouring red wine over it. Only then is the cheese added.

The rabbit, or rarebit, was eaten as a light meal or served as a savory. The savory, that uniquely English course following dessert, was invented to accompany the last drops of wine. After World War II, both elaborate meals and the household servants who prepared them became less commonplace in Britain. The savory didn’t so much fall out of favor as move from the back of the meal to the front, where it became the appetizer. That said, people are less inclined to spend time frying or grilling when they could be socializing with their guests. This means many of the delicious savories once commonplace are now either restaurant fare or rarely encountered.

Having said this, do know that recipes for rarebit abound, and the above history barely scratches the surface of a beloved dish.

For all the cheese eating we do in America, we never hear about rarebit, much less eat it.

(Or I’m out of touch and everyone but me is eating rarebits?)

This is unfortunate: Rarebit is what grilled cheese can be if it tries really hard. Further, it does this with ingredients most of us have to hand: cheese, bread, beer or milk, mustard, and cayenne.

A few notes:

Do not be alarmed if the cheese mixture appears grainy. Keep stirring. It will find itself and smooth out.

I consulted several English cookbooks before making English Rarebit. Only Fergus Henderson cools the cheese mixture before toasting it. You need not, but it struck me as good advice: pouring a hot cheese mixture over room temperature bread could cause problems. To that end, I poured the cheese sauce into a Pyrex glass dish. While it cooled, I cleaned up.

You will find yourself with a cheesy pan. Soak it in warm soapy water cut with a little white vinegar. It will clean up easily.

Never put your camera in the sink. Ever.

A final note: As I was making English Rarebit, my husband was off performing a work-related site visit. He texted me to say he was coming home, and had not eaten since breakfast.

The perfect snack awaited him.