Rarely eaten these days, rarebit deserves a comeback

Think of it as an inside-out grilled cheese sandwich: the cheese is getting the final toasting, not the bread. Of course, the traditional preparation of Welsh rarebit takes matters a little further — creating a cheese sauce instead of just using plain cheese — but if you’re trying to explain rarebit to the uninitiated, the topsy-turvy grilled cheese is a quick way to get the point across.

Welsh rarebit is a simple dish with a complicated etymology. It’s also called Welsh rabbit, though with its many cultural and regional variations, you’d be hard-pressed to find universal agreement on either its name or its ingredients. There’s Scotch rabbit, Buck Rarebit, Rum Tum Ditty, Blushing Bunny… you get the idea. It’s been around so long that just about every culture has its version.

On the Channel Island of Guernsey, Welsh Rarebit is first mentioned in an 1878 newspaper article on a cookery school’s guest program. After noting that the “delicate and elegant” rarebit recipe presented called for cream, the Guernsey author chided the lecturer for “confessing to never have heard (which surprises us in so accomplished an artiste) of the ordinary form of this delicacy in which Scotch ale or porter forms so conspicuous an ingredient.” So even back then, the exact particulars of the recipe were up for discussion, with a strong bias for whatever version you’d grown up with.

All that differing nomenclature and ingredient requirements make a larger point: Toasting cheese on top of bread is universally enjoyed because it's across-the-board appealing. Whether you top it with an egg, spike it with a little booze, or spice it up with a bit of cayenne, rarebit makes a quick, easy, and hearty accompaniment to winter stews and soups, or a satisfying snack on its own. Here’s a recipe that follows the classic preparation mentioned in the 1800s Guernsey Star article. Feel free to use it as a jumping-off point to create — and name — your own variation.

Classic Welsh Rarebit
2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon mustard powder

1 pound good-quality Cheddar cheese, grated

¾ cup hearty beer/stout/ale

½ teaspoon cayenne powder

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

6 slices thickly sliced bread such as sourdough

Preheat broiler. Toast bread and lay pieces on a baking sheet. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and incorporate flour, stirring until light gold (about three to five minutes). Mix in mustard, cayenne, beer, and Worcestershire sauce. Turn heat down and stir in the grated cheese, stirring constantly until it’s melted and sauce is smooth. Remove from heat, spread on the toasted bread. Toast under broiler, watching carefully, until cheese mixture just begins to bubble and brown.