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Cheese Rare-Bit Sandwich
Grate a quarter of pound of American cheese fine; melt it in a sauce pan over the fire, add the yolks of two eggs well beaten, two tablespoonfuls of cream, a dash of salt and red pepper, and a teaspoonful of Worcestershire. Stir the mixture into the melted cheese; when blended, remove from the fire, and when cool, spread it on thin slices of lightly buttered white bread, Put the two slices together and garnish with an olive.
A rarebit thickened with egg yolks and served cold as a sandwich spread rather than poured hot over toast. The whole thing hinges on gentle heat.
- Use a double boilerMelting cheese in a saucepan directly over the fire, then adding yolks, will curdle and turn stringy in seconds on a modern burner. Set a bowl over barely simmering water and stir constantly; the mixture should thicken to the consistency of soft custard, around 160F, and no hotter.
- "American cheese"In this period the phrase meant ordinary domestic factory Cheddar, mild and firm — not the processed singles it now describes. A mild or medium block Cheddar grated fine is the right substitution.
- QuantitiesA quarter pound of grated cheese is about one cup, loosely packed. For the two tablespoons of cream, a richer cream works better here; a very thin one carries more water and will slacken the spread.
- "Red pepper"This is cayenne, not paprika and not sweet peppers. A dash means a pinch — an eighth of a teaspoon is plenty against a quarter pound of cheese.
- Order of operationsThe text is ambiguous — it says to add the yolks and cream, then to stir "the mixture" into the melted cheese. The second reading, beating yolks, cream and seasonings together first and then stirring that in, rather than dropping yolks into hot cheese one at a time, is what keeps the mixture smooth.
- CoolingThe spread firms considerably as it cools and will be stiff straight from the refrigerator. Let it come back toward room temperature before spreading, or it will tear thin bread.
- YieldEnough for three or four sandwiches on standard sliced white bread.
- KeepingAn egg-thickened cheese spread is perishable. Refrigerate and use within two days rather than treating it as a shelf-stable potted cheese.
Welsh rarebit — melted cheese, seasoning, often beer or ale, served over toast — was a fixture of English and American supper tables through the nineteenth century, and the name is generally traced to an old joke at Welsh expense, a "rabbit" that turns out to be cheese. Enriching it with egg yolks and cream produces something closer to a potted cheese, thick enough to spread once cold, and that is why it can appear in a sandwich book at all. The Worcestershire supplies a salty, fermented sharpness without the liquid, and the olive garnish belongs to the era of tea rooms, luncheon clubs and afternoon receptions rather than the chafing-dish supper the original rarebit was made for.