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Plain Welsh Rarebit
Place a gill of Bass's ale in a small saucepan with a tablespoon Worcestershire sauce and a saltspoon cayenne pepper, and as soon as it briskly boils add one pound very rich, fresh, finely chopped American cheese, and continually stir with a wooden spoon until thoroughly melted Have six freshly prepared slices of toast on six very hot egg dishes on range, evenly divide the cheese over the six slices of toast and send to the table as hot as possible.
A straight-ahead melted-cheese rarebit with no roux and no egg, which means the cheese itself has to do all the work. Get the heat low and the cheese finely cut and it will come together; rush it and it breaks.
- A gillHalf a cup, 4 fl oz. That is a modest amount of liquid for a full pound of cheese, so expect a thick, spoonable mass rather than a pourable sauce.
- Bass's aleA pale ale from Burton-on-Trent, then a byword for bottled bitter. Any English-style pale ale or bitter works; avoid anything heavily hopped, as the bitterness concentrates as the liquid reduces.
- "American cheese"At the time this was written the phrase meant a firm domestic Cheddar, not the processed slice it now describes. Use a good aged Cheddar; "very rich, fresh" points to a full-fat cheese that has not dried out.
- The hinge: keep it off the boilThe ale is brought to a brisk boil, but once the cheese goes in the pan should sit over low heat only. Cheddar held too hot will break into stringy curds and a pool of grease, and no amount of stirring brings it back.
- A saltspoonAbout a quarter teaspoon. That much cayenne across six portions is assertive but not extreme; scale it back if you want the cheese to lead.
- Finely choppedNot an idle instruction. Small, even pieces melt before the pan has time to overheat. Grating works as well or better.
- Egg dishes on the rangeSmall shallow oven dishes, heated on the stovetop. Any warmed individual gratin dish or heatproof plate does the same job, and warming them matters more than the vessel does.
- YieldSix servings as written, one slice of toast each, which is generous for a starter and about right for a light supper.
Welsh rarebit appears in English print as "Welsh rabbit" from the early eighteenth century, the name generally read as a joke at the expense of a household too poor for game, with "rarebit" arriving later as a genteel back-formation. Here it turns up with a branded English ale in the ingredient list and American Cheddar in the pan. The "plain" in the title distinguishes it from the more elaborate versions of the same period, which thicken the cheese with egg yolk or a mustard-spiked roux, or slide a poached egg on top and call it a Golden Buck.