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A Diplomatist’s Receipt for Welsh Rabbit

A historical recipe from The Stag Cook Book, by Carroll Mac Sheridan (1922).

A historical recipe

The Stag Cook Book: Written for Men by Men, by Carroll Mac Sheridan (1922). Project Gutenberg eBook #48695.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards.

Source and licence

From The Stag Cook Book, by Carroll Mac Sheridan (1922). Digitised by Project Gutenberg, eBook #48695 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48695). Public domain in the USA; its status may differ elsewhere.

Read the original Public domain in the USA

What was changed: As printed, from the book's text; Project Gutenberg's header and licence removed. Ingredient lines were read out of the text by a program. A historical recipe, not current advice.

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Ingredients

Method

  1. I have no hesitation in saying that my recipe for Welsh Rabbit is the best yet invented.
  2. It has an international reputation.
  3. It has been eaten with gusto by Russians, Turks and some Englishmen who, strange to say, are distinguished gourmets.
  4. There have been Frenchmen who were too reserved, perhaps, in their praise of it, but then it must be remembered that Welsh rabbit is not sympathetic with the Gallic temperament.
  5. The French prefer timbales de fromage.
  6. Put a large chafing dish over the hot water pan in which the water must be boiling.
  7. Never let the temperature of the heat change for a moment;
  8. therefore a big alcohol lamp is preferable.
  9. Grate ordinary cheese or cut it into the shape of dice.
  10. Drop in a lump of butter of the size of an English walnut.
  11. Pour into the pan a pint of near beer or near Budweiser.
  12. Slightly heat it.
  13. In the old days musty ale was everything.
  14. To-day the symbol of beer is almost sufficient.
  15. Drop in a half teaspoonful of strong red pepper and then a tablespoonful of paprika,—paprika being merely a flavor and not a condiment.
  16. Keep the beer hot;
  17. then drop two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, a tablespoon of catsup and a half teaspoon of mustard.
  18. When this mixture boils, put in the cheese and stir in one direction until the mixture assumes the consistency of cream.
  19. Use the thick plates sold in the department stores especially for Welsh Rabbit.
  20. Have them heated so that the cheese will sizzle when it touches them.
  21. Have ready a sufficient number of pieces of toasted bread, the crust carefully cut off.
  22. When the cheese is sufficiently plastic, dip a round of toast into it, let it remain for a second, transfer it to the hot plate and at once ladle the mixture in the pan over the toast with neatness and dispatch and you will have an unprecedented success, if no conversation is permitted until the rabbit is eaten.
  23. The sound of a human voice lowers its temperature.
  24. Coffee or tea must never be partaken of until the morsels are disposed of.
  25. During the eating process, Budweiser is a substitute for the real thing—which was musty ale or the Dog’s Head variety.