Welsh rarebit

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Welsh rarebit, often spelled Welsh rabbit, is a savory dish of hot cheese sauce served on toasted bread. The cheese sauce may include ale, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and a pinch of cayenne or paprika. Some recipes simply melt cheese on toast, while others make a richer sauce that combines cheese with ale (and sometimes wine) and may be finished with a bechamel.

Common variations include toppings like an egg on top (buck rabbit or golden buck) or adding tomato to make a blushing bunny. The dish is sometimes linked to Welsh food such as caws pobi, but there’s no solid evidence it originated in Wales. The name is thought to be playful: “Welsh rabbit” first appears in 1725, while the spelling “Welsh rarebit” appears in 1781. The word rarebit is a later corruption of rabbit, and many cooks use rarebit to avoid implying meat.

Welsh rarebit has remained a well-known cheese-on-toast dish, and over the years the name has spread beyond Britain, with various cultural references and playful anecdotes attached to it.