AN ANCIENT DISH

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 135, 9 June 1937, Page 17

AN ANCIENT DISH

VARIOUS RAREBIT RECIPES

"There is still some doubt as to the really authentic recipe for the ancient dish of Welsh rarebit" I believe, but although there are ardent devotees of various ingredients, it has not moved far away from .what I am told is the original—namely, 'a slice of cheese toasted till it threatened to melt and laid on thin crisp toast, buttered, but not sodden, and eaten very hot,", writes Ambrose Heath in. the "Manchester Guardian." "Beer, milk, mustard, and this sort of thing came later on^'But each of my readers probably has her (or, more likely, his) pet recipe. I shall do no more than draw attention to various other rarebits which have been evolved in after years. SCOTCH AND ENGLISH. "The earliest I find comes from the redoubtable Mrs. Glasse, who gives recipes for Scotch and English rarebits. To make: the Scotch one, you 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 ths bread. Almost the Welsh original, you see; but Mrs. Glasses Welsh rarebit (or rabbit, as she calls them) differs only in:the fact that-the cheese is only toasted one side, the other side being browned with a hot iron, or, as we would now, under the grill. "The English ones are made as follows: 'Toast a slice of bread brown on both sides, then lay it in a plate before the fire, pour a glass of red wine over it, let it soak the wine up, then cut some cheese very thin, and lay it very thick .over the bread, and put jt in a tin oven before the fire, and it will be toasted and browned presently. Serve it -away riot.' : "The second:—'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 for two or three minutes, then stir it until it is done and well mixed: You may stir in a little mustard; when it is cooked enough lay it on the bread, just brown it with a hot shovel' (i.e., under the grill). 'Serve it away hot.1 The rarebit of 'The Scots Kitchen' is much amore complicated than the foregoing. "Listen to Meg Dods. Pare the crust ■oft a slice of bread cut smooth and of about half an inch in thickness. Toast it but do not let it wither or harden in the toasting. Butter it. Grate down mellow Stilton, Gouda, Cheshire, or good Dunlop cheese; and if not fat put to it some bits of butter. Put this into a glass cheese-toaster which has a hot-rater reservoir (presumably a chafing-dish) and add to it a glassful of well-flavoured browri-stout porter, a large teaspoonful of made mustard, and pepper (very finely ground) to taste. Stir the mixture until it is 'completely dissolved, brown it,' and then, filling the reservoir with boiling w.ater, serve the cheese with hot dry" or buttered toasts on a separate dish. THE IRISH WAY. . 'Mrs. Beeton has;,two. otljer rabbits, beside Welsh. Irish rabbit is made thus: Put half an ounce of butter, two or three tablespoons of milk, and four ounces of Cheshire or Cheddar cheese cut in small pieces into a" saucepan, and stir them by the side of the fire until they are creamy. Then add vinegar, made mustard, and pepper to taste, and < finally a dessertspoonful of coarselychopped gherkins. Pour this preparation on to squares of well-buttered toast. Her Yorkshire rabbit demands eggs, and is reminiscent of the buck rabbit of our' teashpps and eatinghouses. Cut a quarter of a pound of Cheshire or Cheddar cheese into small pieces, and put them into a saucepan with half an ounce of butter, three tablespoonfuls of milk or ale, a little made mustard, a few drops of Worcester sauce or vinegar, and pepper to taste and stir over a gentle heat till creamy. Pour this on buttered toast and surmount each portion with a nicely poached egg. AMERICA'S CONTRIBOTION. "America's contribution to this collection is three recipes. Tomato rarebit is made by melting two tablespoonfuls of butter and then mixing in an equal quantity of flour. Add gradually threequarters of a cupful of thin cream (a breakfast-cupful is. a fair measure here), stirring all the time, and as soori as the mixture thickens add threequarters of a cupful of stewed sieved tomatoes mixed with a good pinch of bicarbonate of soda, two cupfuls of finely cut cheese, salt, mustard, cayenne pepper, and two slightly-beaten eggs. When the cheese has all melted, serve on toast. "Oyster rarebit may be good with large American oysters, but rather a waste of ours! Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter and add half a pound of soft mild cheese cut in 'pieces, salt, and cayenne pepper. When the cheese melts) add half a cup of thin cream by degrees and then two slightly-beaten eggs. As soon as the mixture is smooth add your oysters, a cupful, which have first been parboiled.

"Lastly, Lenox rarebit. Melt a tablespoonful of butter, and add to it a cupful of milk with a seasoning .■ of salt, pepper, and cayenne. Add half a dozen eggs, and cook like scrambled eggs until nearly done, when add a small softened cream cheese. Serve on hot unsweetened water biscuits."