Welsh Rabbit

I've come across a number of theories regarding the origin of Welsh Rabbit.

The website Cuisine du Monde.com, in its section entitled 'Welsh Cuisine', states with absolute certainty that, "Welsh Rarebit, Rabbit or 'Caws Pobi' gets its name quite literally from the words rare (meaning very lightly cooked) and bit (a small piece or portion)". Hmmm... I don't think so.

According to Cuisine du Monde, the other two dishes that encapsulate 'Welsh Cuisine' are Griddle Scones (Pice ar y Maen) and Snowdon Pudding (Pwdin Eryri). I'm not even going to go there since I'm sure these simple offerings are made with a humble heart.

According to the 16th-century English physician, traveller and author Andrew Boorde, the Welsh were turned out of heaven because they were babbling and undeserving. St. Peter lured them out by calling "Caws Pobi, Caws Pobi" (roasted cheese). When the Welsh rushed out to taste it, he locked the gates and thereby earned for himself the post of Porter of Heaven.

Tortured by guilt at his perceived lack of religious integrity and persecuted by his enemies, Boorde died in Fleet prison in 1549. There were rumours he had poisoned himself. Shame.

It is possible, I suppose, that adding beer to mouldy cheese and toasting stale bread to make a reasonably appetising meal could have represented a substitute for rabbit to people suffering in abject poverty. But it's more likely that the title was intended as a racist slur.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was common in England to use the verb 'Welsh' to imply thievery or dishonesty – to 'Welsh' on a deal – or the adjective 'Welsh' to mean inferior quality or an outright counterfeit. In an age where practically everyone knew how to snare a rabbit for the pot, a Welshman was considered to be so lazy and inept that snaring a rabbit for the pot was beyond him. Cheese and bread had to do instead.

From the Victorian period onwards, the dish is often referred to in recipe books as 'rarebit', a term presumably made up by people who, like the good folks at Cuisine du Monde, didn't understand why the dish was called 'rabbit' when there was no rabbit in it. The title 'Rabbit' first appeared in print in 1725, while the word 'Rarebit' only occurs after 1785.

Mrs Martha Bradley's directions for 'Welch Rabbit', published in The British Housewife in London in 1755, are as follows:

Cut a handfome Piece of Bread and an even Slice of Cheefe, let the Bread be of the Shape of the Cheefe, put a little larger every Way. Put a salamander in the Fire, or a large Poker, or the Bottom of a Fire-Shovel heated red hot will do.

A more appetising version of the recipe is very popular in the Pas de Calais region of Northern France, where the locals refer to it as 'Le Welsh'. It's very good with a glass of strong Ch'ti ale, which is brewed in Lille - although a glass of Bullmastiff Son of a Bitch from Cardiff would be just as good.

I prefer the chic French influence of the American recipe to be found at Epicurious.com. I eat little else.

CYMRAEG – ENGLISH