Welsh rarebit

Easy, cheap and bad for your cholesterol, this teatime treat is the kind of oozy comfort food that blocks your arteries with love (and fat) – just what the doctor may have ordered back in 1725.
Believed to have taken off in 18th century England, it may surprise you to learn that Welsh rarebit isn’t Welsh at all, but an English dig at poverty stricken Wales – nice. Rabbit was a poor man’s meat in England, whereas the poor man’s ‘meat’ in Wales was cheese, thus the name ‘Welsh rabbit’. Although somewhere along the way, the alternative spelling, ‘rarebit’, crept in for some reason, and no one really knows why. Anyhoo, that’s not to say that the Welsh didn’t eat Welsh rarebit – cheese, bread and beer were food staples of the time. Sounds worryingly like my current diet. Oh well, scurvy here I come…

Welsh rarebit
Serves 1 / Hands on time 10 mins / Total time 15 mins / V
75g vegetarian mature cheddar, grated
1 egg yolk
1 tbs beer or stout (or milk if you don’t have any)
½ tsp English mustard
1 tsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce*
2 thick slices of bread

Method
1. Grate the cheese and place in a bowl along with the egg yolk, stout, English mustard and vegetarian Worcestershire sauce. Stir well and put to one side.
2. Put a grill on a high heat and toast the bread in a toaster before spooning and squashing the cheese mixture onto each slice liberally. Place the slices on a baking tray and under the hot grill for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese has started to bubble and brown. Serve immediately.

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V– Vegetarian
*Most brands of Worcestershire sauce regretably not vegetarian as they contain fish so always check the label. I used a vegan brand in this recipe called Biona.