The recipe is cheese and beer, why rabbit?
There are some legends that say that the dish was named “rabbit” as a joke of sorts. Poor Welsh peasants could not afford meat, but they could afford cheese on toast. Apparently the poor would often substitute cheese for meat in the seventeenth and eighteenth century.
This dish has been around for a long time, the first recorded reference to it being in 1725. Sometime in the later 1700’s the name was adapted to rarebit, which isn’t actually a word. Now Welsh Rabbit and Welsh Rarebit are pretty much interchangeable.
The dish itself is quite good.
The butter and flour mix together to for a roux of sorts. The dry mustard gives it a pungent flavor.
I used a strong, extra sharp cheddar cheese. I don’t think the dish would taste as good with a mild cheese.
This is one of those dishes that changes greatly depending on the type of cheese and beer you use. There are endless possibilities of flavor by changing those two ingredients.
I used a basic light beer. We purchased some cheap beer to kill slugs in our garden. Yes, if you leave a dish of beer by the plants the slugs are eating, they will be attracted to the beer. When they go in the dish to drink it, they can’t get back out and die. So we bought this cheep beer and still have about 6 cans of it left. No one wants to drink it - it doesn’t taste good - so I decided to cook with it.
The cheese was rich and delicious. I served it in the fondue pot with the French baguettes and rye bread. The rye bread went best with it - two strong flavors that compliment each other well!
CLASSIC WELSH RABBIT
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Flour
1 Tablespoon Dry Mustard
1 Cup Milk
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 Teaspoon Cayenne
1/2 Pound Cheddar Cheese, Broken into small pieces
3 Tablespoons Beer
Melt butter in the top of a double broiler. Add flour and dry mustard to butter and mix. Gradually add milk, stirring until the mixture thickens. Add Worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper. Add cheese and stir until cheese is melted. Add beer, stir in and serve warm.
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