Phony Coney
Tam melted a rare bit of cheese
Hoping, her beau, Fred, to please
But when Tam said rarebit
Fred heard it as rabbit
Now Fred thinks Tam's just a tease.
When I was around 10 my family visited Colonial Williamsburg. I only remember one thing from that trip: My first taste of Welsh Rarebit. It was at Chownings Tavern (somehow I remembered that as well) and I adored it. Smooth unctuous cheddar with a hint of spiciness served on crisp toast and contrasted with the bright acid flavor of tomato. Seriously good stuff.
When I lived in northern Virginia a few years ago I made another visit to Williamsburg and again had rarebit at Chowning's. To my complete surprise, the intervening 40 years (and the multitude of rarebits I had made) hadn't affected my memory of the way that first experience tasted at all.
However, in the intervening years I'd developed a recipe of my own and it remains my favorite.
Welsh Rarebit
12 oz sharp cheddar cheese -- shredded
1/2 c beer -- ideally something with a lot of hops
1 tbsp ground mustard
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp butter
Melt butter in a heavy sauce pan over low heat. Add cheese a small handful at a time and stir until melted. (Note: The butter and cheese will tend to remain separate.) Whisk in half of beer. (This should combine the butter and cheese.) Add additional beer in small increments until mixture is a smooth sauce. Whisk in remaining ingredients.
Note: Depending on the cheese and your preferred consistency you may not need all the beer or may need a bit more. Serves 4.
I served this batch of rarebit on toasted beer bread, which was good, but my favorite toast for rarebit is homemade English muffins.
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Comments: 26
There wasn't a link to English muffins -- but now there is.
Jessie,
I just don't want anyone to go away hungry.
i made it in one of my foods classes, back in high school, and i still thought it was welsh rabbit... i never wanted to try it when i was younger... then made it in school, found out it was pretty much topless grilled cheese with a little kick to it.
Planning is good. Rarebit is good. It sounds all good to me.
Beckie,
Both "rarebit" and "rabbit" are acceptable. The amount of kick is entirely up to the cook.
Clearly you should have been a Trappist monk instead of a nun.{g}
My pleasure.
Thanks.
Liz,
It's the cheese that's the calorie-bomb in this dish. Think of the bread as just a way to reduce the amount of cheese you eat.
It serves 4, or two cheese fanatics.
Actually you can make your Welsh Rarebit into a Buck Rarebit by whacking a poached egg on top of it. Now that's pukka tucker.
It includes soy sauce, but vinegar, tamarind, molasses, and achovies are also key ingredients.
Angela,
For one thing, it's not grilled in any way. As for why rarebit (or, originally, rabbit), the source isn't clear.
About the possible etymology (not very nice) see
here. and
here.
I can understand your aversion.{g} But this is really good.
But, some technical questions: (I'm not a beer drinker) - how does one determine that a beer has 'lots of hops' and (just curious) why does it matter in this recipe?
It's definitely a cheese-lovers meal.
Tony,
You have to taste the beer. I'm not a big beer-drinker myself and off-hand, I'm drawing a blank on what I usually get. At any rate, hops gives beer it's bitterness and I think that improves the flavor of the rarebit. My suggestion would be to buy an English or Dutch beer.
You ask why they call it Welsh Rarebit? Its a British thing OK. Like why is the family name Marjoriebanks pronounced Marchbanks - and we will not even go near Featherstonhaulgh (pron. Ferneyhuff.)
Kevin,
There is no actual definitive recipe for soy sauce except that its key ingredient is (I'm going to put so many people off it for life now) fermented anchovies. I believe the recipe used bt Lea and Perrins for Worcestershire Sauce is merely a local variation from some part of India. That is backed up by the entry in my mother's Traditional English Cookery book. And a book that has a recipe for authentic Spotted Dick pudding has to be respected.
(Its another British thing folks.)