An important part of LouLou and Jaf’s homeschooling program is culinary world-schooling. We define culinary world-schooling as learning about world culture through foods from around the world. Culinary literally means “cooking” or “to cook,” and World-Schooling can be defined as schooling through world-travel.
We take it a bit further by cooking foods from around the world.
Though we stayed stateside this year, our travel plans for 2017 will take us back overseas. Lou Lou and Jaf are most excited about spending time in the UK…and eating their way through the region.
In preparation for next year’s trip, we’ve been reading up on traditional foods and customs in the UK and discovered an upcoming fun foodie holiday called National Welsh Rarebit Day.
SO, WHAT IS WELSH RAREBIT DAY?
#WelshRarebitDay, a holiday originating from 18th-century Wales celebrates the Welsh Rarebit (sometimes called Welsh Rabbit), a delicious, traditional recipe featuring cheese, ale, mustard, and toast!
The kid-foodies couldn’t believe that an actual day of celebration existed for a gourmet version of one of their favorite snacks, cheese on toast!
While cheese on toast is popular in a number of countries – the French have their Croque Monsieur – what makes the Welsh Rarebit special is its richness due to the addition of egg yolks, ale, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. The dish is made by pouring a savory, incredibly rich cheese sauce over slices of toasted bread.
It can be eaten as a snack, which is how the kid-foodies like it, or as a meal during lunch or dinner. If you’re interested in making your own Welsh Rarebit, read on to learn how you can enter to win a gift basket of Welsh cheeses this Labor Day Weekend.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
There are a number of speculations as to the meaning behind the name, Welsh Rarebit (or Rabbit). Since it’s just cheese melted on toast, the kid-foodies wanted to know if, at a point, it ever included rabbit meat? Fortunately it didn’t. Going back to the 18th century, Welsh Rarebit was a hearty and delicious dish that would satisfy a hungry Welsh family who didn’t manage to catch a rabbit for dinner.
The Welsh loved (and still do) hot cheese on toast, which is even noted in a 16th century joke: St. Peter was fed up with the noise of all the Welsh in heaven that he tricked them into thinking there were Rarebit’s outside the gates of heaven…when they ran out to get some, he locked the doors!
We may never know the true origins of the dish and its name, but what the kid-foodies do know is that your first slice will certainly not be your last…it is that delicious!
WHEN IS WELSH RAREBIT DAY?
#WelshRarebitDay is celebrated annually on September 3rd, which this year, coincides with Labor Day weekend in the US.
And, you know what that means – incorporating this delicious dish into our Labor Day menu. It’s the perfect, non-fussy dish to make, and a hit with both kids and adults alike.
Who does not like to dig into in a plate of hot cheese on toast?
There are plenty of Welsh Rarebit recipe variations, depending on what kind of cheese you use, but here’s one the kid-foodies enjoyed making.
WELSH RAREBIT RECIPE
Ingredients
- 1.5 Tbsp butter, unsalted
- 1.5 Tbsp flour
- 1 tsp mustard (we used regular yellow mustard since the kids say its tastes better than other mustards)
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup Hard Apple Cider
- 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar
- 4 slices toasted whole grain bread (or any thick-cut bread)
Instructions
Prepare 2-3 pieces of bread onto a baking sheet. Brush oil olive on each and broil in oven to a light golden brown. Set Aside.
Melt butter in a pan over low heat and whisk in flour for a few minutes until the mixture turns a light-golden color.
Add mustard, Worcestershire sauce and pepper. Mix until incorporated.
Add ale (we used apple cherry cider since the kids love tart foods, we suggest you experience with different kinds of ale).
Continue to mix with a whisk. Gradually add in the Cheddar.
Stir until the cheese melts and the sauce is smooth. This will take approximately 5 minutes.
Spread cheese sauce over toast and place baking sheet back into the oven until cheese bubbles (2 mins).
Remove from oven and serve immediately.
Notes: To get an authentic Welsh Rarebit flavor, use extra sharp Collier’s Welsh cheddar and a dark ale.
- 1.5 TBSP butter, unsalted
- 1.5 TBSP flour
- 1 tsp mustard (we used regular yellow mustard since the kids say its tastes better than other mustards)
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup Hard Apple Cider
- 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar
- 4 slices toasted whole grain bread (or any thick-cut bread)
- Prepare 2-3 pieces of bread onto a baking sheet. Brush oil olive on each and broil in oven to a light golden brown. Set Aside.
- Melt butter in a pan over low heat and whisk in flour for a few minutes until the mixture turns a light-golden color.
- Add mustard, Worcestershire sauce and pepper. Mix until incorporated.
- Add ale (we used apple cherry cider since the kids love tart foods, we suggest you experience with different kinds of ale).
- Continue to mix with a whisk. Gradually add in the Cheddar.
- Stir until the cheese melts and the sauce is smooth. This will take approximately 5 minutes.
- Spread cheese sauce over toast and place baking sheet back into the oven until cheese bubbles (2 mins).
- Remove from oven and serve immediately.
CONTEST TIME
Now that you have a recipe, are you ready for a chance to win a gift pack of Welsh cheeses, courtesy of our promotional partner, Visit Wales. To enter the competition, try making your own creative Welsh Rarebit over Labor Day weekend; maybe even a Welsh Rarebit Burger.
Post a photo of it on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. Be sure to include #WelshRarebitDay and tag both @VisitWales and @pintsizegourmets and post your photo by midnight, on Tuesday morning, September 6th. Visit Wales will select the reader with the most creative rarebit, and they will win a gift pack of gourmet Snowdonia Cheese Company Welsh cheeses!
Our culinary world-schooling method of teaching exposes our children to the world’s different cultures, improving their global awareness and expanding their minds. After tasting this delicious Welsh dish, and learning all about its history, we wish we could celebrate #WelshRarebitDay every day of the year!
When I first saw this post, I thought of the Jefferson Airplane song, “White Rabbit.” There are a lot of Welsh in the area of Pennsylvania I was born in, but they never opened restaurants. This was a good read, since Wales is the only part of the UK I have not been to yet!
Thanks for writing this detail article about #welshrarebit day, especially with great recipe so people can try too.
Food and cultures go hand in hand. It is really great that you explore both through food. The recipe looks really enticing.
What a fun way to discover different tastes of the world!
You can’t go wrong with cheese and bread. I love traveling with my kids through food too. It makes eating more fun when there is a story behind it.
I have heard of it but never had it before. Actually never knew what it really was. Now that O now I may have to try it. I always thought it was some kind of rabbit stew.
One of my favourite snacks as a child, although I don’t think I ever tried it with the cider. Gonna have to give it another go, that recipe is mouth-watering!
Never had this and I did not know about Welsh Rarebit Day, but I do now! Cheese and hot toast sound like a winning combination to me.