Dating from the 18th century this famous Welsh dish really is the best cheese on toast recipe! A kind of ‘posh cheese on toast’, it is a simple marriage of cheese, flour, and milk with flavourful mustard and Worcestershire sauce is the go-to dish for those with bare cupboards who are in need of a comforting and filling snack.
Named 'Welsh Rarebit', it is thought this dish was attributed to the Welsh because of their historic fondness for cheese, which was used as a substitute for meat as a source of protein by poor peasants. It's been said that this recipe was later evolved by the Irish with of course the addition of Stout, making this particular recipe 'Irish Rarebit'. They would pour the cheese mixture on top of soda bread, which was popular in Ireland in years gone by, particularly in rural areas where a regular supply of barm (brewer’s yeast) wasn’t always accessible to the home baker.
Ingredients
- 25g butter
- 25g flour
- ½ cup stout
- ¼ cup milk
- 1tsp Dijon or English mustard
- 1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 125g Quicke's Mature Cheddar
- Freshly ground white or black pepper
- 4 – 6 slices of bread
- A touch more butter to spread on the bread
Method
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Heat a griddle pan on a low heat. Butter the bread on both sides and then fry on each side until slightly brown
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Heat up the grill and set your oven rack about a quarter of the way down
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Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a low heat and cook until you have a dry paste
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Add the stout gradually, continually whisking
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Next add the milk, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and whisk for a further few minutes until you have a beautiful thick sauce
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Add 3/4 of the grated Quicke's Mature Cheddar and stir until melted
- Place the toasted bread on an oven tray and divide the sauce amongst the slices of bread ensuring you have a fairly generous layer and smooth it to over the surface
- Evenly scatter the remainder of the cheese over the slices and place under the grill until bubbling
