Flaming, Toasted, Grilled Cheese

Flaming, Toasted, Grilled Cheese
             Lounza and Halloumi - Gary Brown
             The Italian-Argentine Variety of Grilled Cheese - Mauricio Contreras
             A (Grilled Cheese) Sandwich - Larry Finch
             Toasted Cheese Sandwich - Ray Martin
             Toasted Cheese - Adam Quinan
             Toasted Cheese and M*rm*t* - Adam Quinan
             Toasted Cheese - P. Richmond
             Grilled Provolone - Satyam
             Grilled Provolone - Sarah Scott
             Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Susan Wenger
             A George Foreman Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Tommy Armstrong
             Besotted Potto's 1960 Home Economics Class Makes 'Toasted Cheese'
             Fried Cheese Sandwich - Stephen Chambers
             Toasted Cheese Antipodean Style - John Donohue
             Doug Essinger-Hileman's Grilled Cheese Sandwich
             Killick's Toasted Cheese - Jan Garvin
             Katherine Sherman-Hoehn's Grilled Cheese Sandwich
             Tom Lewis's "Cheese on Toast"
             John Meyn's Hovis Grilled Cheese
             Toasted Cheese in "The Wine-Dark Sea" - John Meyn
             What's a Loggerhead? - Adam Quinan
             Bill Nyden's Croque Monsieur Press
             A Molesworth "Cheese on Toast" - Alan Pond
             Toasting Cheese Without Bread - Rowen
             Bob Saldeen's Grilled Cheese
             A Cuban Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Jessie Strader
             The Canon's Toasted Cheese - Bruce Trinque
             "Toasted" Cheese vs. "Grilled" Cheese - Nathan Varnum
             Toasted Cheese - Sara Waterson
             Rowen's Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Welsh Rabbit / Rarebit
             Toast and Cheese Sauce - Andrew Midkiff
             Welsh Rarebit - Jay Reay
             Further Variations on Rarebit - Matt Cranor
             Welsh Rarebit - Jessie Strader
             "Hunting the Welch Rabbit" - Edmund Burton
             Welsh Rabbit - Charlie Gifford

Flaming, Toasted, Grilled Cheese
Lounza and Halloumi - Gary Brown
Whilst on the tempting subject of toasted cheese, I dare say this has been mentioned before (what hasn't?) but you can produce a fine appetizer that is just 'toasted cheese' rather than 'cheese on toast'; no doubt there are lots of receipts, but a good and traditional Greek Cypriot dish is 'lounza and halloumi' (often with tzatziki too). Lounza is a hot, firm, spicy lamb sausage; halloumi is a slice of sheep's cheese, about 4" x 2" x 1/2", grilled on the open fire griddle until nicely etched with criss-cross marks on both sides, served hot, drizzled with oil. There's something about the cheese itself that prevents it from melting at all (is it perhaps very low fat cheese?: Louis Cohen take heart!), and it has a most agreeable spongy, slightly chewy texture. With a generous glass of one of those surprisingly delicious Cypriot reds .... well, it makes me long for the Mediterranean!

The Italian-Argentine Variety of Grilled Cheese - Mauricio Contreras
The Italian-Argentine variety of grilled cheese is putting 1.5 to 2.0cm-thick slices of Provolone cheese on the barbeque. Some like to flour and butter the surfaces beforehand. Flip it over once the bottom starts to melt. You get a golden crust on both surfaces, and the center of the slice is almost melted never runny. Serve it with some oregano! Buen provecho!

A (Grilled Cheese) Sandwich - Larry Finch
Cookbook author Elizabeth David -- her English Bread and Yeast Cookery is a masterpiece; great reading in addition to being the definitive reference on bread in theory and practice [sorry, James Beard!] -- says that toasted cheese should be prepared by toasting the cheese separately from the bread, preferably on the end of a fork over an open fire.

Somewhat related -- I worked in an office once where the short order cook in the cafeteria made a "grilled cheese sandwich" by putting the bread on a griddle, then when it was almost done he dropped a couple of slices of cheese directly on the griddle, left them for a few seconds, then scooped them up with a spatula and dropped them on the bread. It was a significant improvement over the usual. I asked him once where he learned it, and he said it was as a US Navy cook. [A mathematician would say he made a "(grilled cheese) sandwich" rather than a "grilled (cheese sandwich)".]

Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Ray Martin
With no historical precedents whatsoever to go on, I always toast the bread before putting the sliced cheese on (grated cheese melts too much, and then fat seeps into the toast, making it soggy; slicing the cheese means that the bit in contact with the bread remains solid, and thus impermeable to the grease, leaving the toast crunchy.) Cheddar, or Double Gloucester for preference.
Add liberal amounts of ground black pepper and/or Lea & Perrins/ Tabasco sauce to taste.
Consume immediately.

Toasted Cheese - Adam Quinan
My recipe for Toasted Cheese is
1. Toast, any sort of bread but a good multigrain is my preference.
2. Slice of non-processed Cheese (if you are picky use a good Cheddar otherwise anything vaguely cheese like but not processed will do!)
Instructions
1. Put 2 on top of 1.
2. Grill or broil (depending on which side of the Atlantic you are) until cheese is bubbly.
3. Let it cool down a little or you'll burn your mouth.
4. Eat accompanied by an appropriate beverage.

Toasted Cheese and M*rm*t* - Adam Quinan
Some people like to make toasted cheese with a little Worchester sauce. I like my version. Toast the bread spread very thinly with a dark brown salty, yeasty comestible with a picture of a large soup pot on the label (Yes M**m**e). Then slice old cheddar and toast under the grill until its bubbly.

Toasted Cheese - P. Richmond
Here's my first contribution: a recipe for Toasted Cheese.
For four sandwiches:
4 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
8 slices decent bread
4 slices Cheddar cheese
4 slices mozzarella cheese
For the egg coating: 1 large egg mixed with 3 tablespoons milk and a splash of Worcestershire sauce.
To prepare the sandwiches, in a 10-inch skillet, melt 1 tbs. butter over moderate heat. Cook mushrooms, onions, and pepper in butter until tender. Remove from skillet.
For each sandwich, layer a slice of bread, a slice of each cheese, some of the mushroom-onion mixture, and top with bread.
Dip sandwiches in egg mixture to coat on both sides. Melt 3 tbs. butter in the skillet, cook sandwiches, 2 at a time, over moderate heat until bread is golden and cheese begins to melt, turning once.
This is not the Patrick O'Brian toasted cheese, but it's very good nonetheless.

Grilled Provolone - Satyam
I didn't give toasted cheese a second thought since I associated it with grilled provolone (my translation, sorry), usually called 'provoletta' here, which is available in almost any restaurant here in Buenos Aires. Now that I think of it, I haven't seen it anywhere else in the world, so I shouldn't be amazed nobody seems to know about it. So, this is what I believe 'toasted cheese' might be:

Provolone cheese is made in a long cylinder about 5 inches in diameter and a foot in length. When aged long enough (a rarity nowadays, since it takes months of dry and fresh storage space, which costs too much) it becomes quite hard. I guess that after being a few months at sea, that part was easy. You cut slices about 1/4th of an inch thick and paint it with oil and sprinkle oregano over it (basically, the oil is there so the oregano sticks to the cheese). Then you can put it on the grill. The cheese, being so hard, won't melt through, though it will turn soft. You might want to warm it up slowly so it softens, if it is already too hard. Otherwise, you skip the softening and go to the final stage, which is making the outside crisp, by giving it full heat. You keep it there until it turns deep brown, then turn around and do the other side. You serve it with some olive oil (this oil has to be savoury) and sprinkle some more oregano over it.

You can also do it in a skillet. If the cheese is not really hard, you do it on a high flame, so the crust gets toasted before the middle starts spreading all over the skillet, and looks like mozzarella without the rest of the pizza underneath. If it is hard, you use a lower flame to soften it and give it the final browning on a high flame. You have to put a little oil (spray will do) on the skillet so it doesn't stick, and keep moving it around so it doesn't stay long enough and sticks in one place. If it gets stuck to the skillet, when you try to slide it on a plate to serve it, you will get the melted inside while the crispy crust, which is the best, stays in the skillet. It is still tasty, but you wouldn't like to put it on the table for everyone to see. You have to serve it right out of the fire. If it cools down, it will get harder than it was before cooking, and you can't get the crispy crust reheating it. Just like any toast, you can't let it get cold. And, there is no bread involved in the whole thing.

So, back from the kitchen, I just cut a little slice, toasted it and ate it. Thanks for giving me the idea. By the way, the slice I got out of the fridge was already cut and spiced with oil, oregano and a little chile, and wrapped in plastic. It had been there for a while (months, actually, I forgot about it) so the spices got into it. It is a little hard on the liver, so though I was tempted when I bought it, I left it for later. Another trick, if the cheese is soft, you can wrap the slices in paper instead of plastic, so it will dry up in the dry air of the fridge (not the freezer).

Grilled Provolone - Sarah Scott
Also known as Saganaki, using Saginaki or Kasserli cheeses, but provolone will work well.
Chill cheese well
Heat pan to cover bottom with melted butter and oil
Flour cheese
Put in pan and brown on both sides quickly on med/hi heat
Add flaming brandy, maybe 2 or 3 Tablespoons worth
Put out flames or let die down.
Squeeze lemon over browned cheese.
Serve with crackers or bread or alone

Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Susan Wenger
A Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Built to Last
Recipe: Spiced-Up Grilled Cheese Sandwich
NEW YORK -- You can think about sandwiches in two directions: from the inside out or from the outside in. You can decide on the filling and then choose the
bread, or if you're like me, you can choose the bread and then decide what to put between the slices.
Whether you're going from bread to filling or filling to bread, to build a perfect sandwich you have to consider taste and texture. The basic rules are simple. For texture, pair soft breads with soft fillings (so the egg salad doesn't go flying out of the toast) and sturdy breads with firmer fillings (think roast beef or turkey), so you get a "chew" of equal density from the outside in.
When you want to bend the rules, you can put a firm filling on a softer bread. Similarly, big-flavored breads go best with fillings that can stand up to them.
My favorite grilled cheese sandwich starts with country sourdough bread (a good toasting bread) spread with a zesty mixture of chipotle peppers and tomato paste. From the bottom up, it has two slices of sharp New York State Cheddar, red onions, fresh cilantro, a layer of ripe tomatoes, two more slices of cheese, and then the capstone, another slice of bread spread with the chipotle paste.
You might want to use a different cheese, change the cilantro to parsley, omit the onions or replace chili sauce with mayonnaise. You can play around with the inner elements, so long as you don't change the order in which they are layered. Order is all when you grill this sandwich, as you'll see.
At the bakeries, we use a press, which packs the sandwich down, toasts the bread, warms the innards and, because the Cheddar is positioned next to the bread, melts the cheese.
At home, you can put the sandwich in a saute pan and weight it with a small pot. Either way, you'll discover that the cheese melts on both sides and, even better, melts around the tomatoes, cilantro and onions, forming a cocoon that keeps these delicate ingredients juicy, but away from the bread. There's no sog, ever.
This recipe makes two sandwiches, but it can be multiplied indefinitely.
You can even assemble and refrigerate the sandwiches up to eight hours ahead. Regardless of when you make them or how many, you will always have the same results: the construction guarantees that the last bite will look and taste exactly as good as the first.
Spiced-Up Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Time: 15 minutes
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
2 canned chipotle peppers
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (the sauce in which the peppers are canned)
1 tablespoon molasses
4 large slices sourdough bread, cut 3/4 inch thick
4 ounces New York State Cheddar cheese, cut into 8 thin slices
4 thin slices red onion, in rings
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro.
1 large or 2 small tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick.
1. In a blender or small food processor, combine tomato paste, chipotle peppers, adobo and molasses. Puree until smooth.
2. Taste chipotle pepper spread to determine the spiciness, then spread one side of each slice of bread with desired amount. Refrigerate the extra sauce.
3. On each of 2 slices of bread, place 2 slices cheese. Top with onion rings, then sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Add tomato slices, and top with remaining cheese. Put slices of bread, pepper sides down, over sandwiches.
4. If using a sandwich grill, follow the instructions. Otherwise, place a large skillet or saute pan over medium heat for 30 seconds. Put sandwiches in pan, and weight with a clean heavy pot. When bread has begun to toast and brown and cheese is melting, in 1 to 2 minutes, flip sandwiches over and toast other sides.
Yield: 2 sandwiches.

A George Foreman Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Tommy Armstrong
Mr. George Foreman and his now famous(infamous) GFG makes just about the perfect grilled cheese sandwich. Butter a slice of bread, put down on grill butter side down, pace three slices of whatever mixture of cheeses you like on top, another slice of bread, a little bit of butter on top, sprinkle with oregano, close grill, time for 1 min 43 seconds, and voila. Works well sine butter but tastes so much better with it. Add bacon, ham, canadian bacon, lox, etc. etc. if you like. You can also toast the bread in a toaster before above procedure.

Besotted Potto's 1960 Home Economics Class Makes 'Toasted Cheese'
My very 1960's "home economics" (did anyone else have that as a required class in 7th grade?) concept of "toasted cheese" is two slices of Wonder Bread, with a slice or two of that very orange, plastic-y looking individually-wrapped "American" cheese between, grilled in a frying pan in butter, until bread is toasted and "cheese food product" melted. And to make it a very exotic treat, a slice of tomato may be added, prior to grilling, in between all.

Fried Cheese Sandwich - Stephen Chambers
To us [in the UK] grilling is just stuffing something under a grill and like toasting requires no additional fat or oil.
That 'welsh rabbit' stuff is otherwise known as cheese on toast, which is probably as close as you can get to toasted cheese. Some time back it was suggested that Killick toasted the cheese by using the spirit stove to heat a loggerhead and then use the heat from that to toast the cheese.

Toasted Cheese Antipodean Style - John Donohue
In essence a grilled cheese sandwich with Veggiemyte spread on it -- or, Toasted Cheese Antipodean Style.
Stephen and Jack would have loved it.

Doug Essinger-Hileman's Grilled Cheese Sandwich I like to put some mustard, preferably some variant of country french on one slice of the bread. And after it's cooked, I like to peel the top slice of bread away and slide a couple of slices of bread-and-butter pickles into the sandwich.
As for cheeses, I love to mix the sharpest cheddar I can find -- there are some from Vermont and New York State that are to die for -- with the Swiss.

Killick's Toasted Cheese - Jan Garvin
There is a Swiss recipe that is wandering around unnamed in my head that involves toasting cheese in front of an open fire and eating it with gherkins and other treats. I've always fitted that into my idea of what Killick served as "toasted cheese".

Katherine Sherman-Hoehn's Grilled Cheese Sandwich
They're usually called "grilled cheese sandwiches" in my neck of the woods, not "toasted...." Of course, they're set on a hot griddle with a minimum of grease -- usually just the butter on the outsides of the bread, if possible-- too much lubrication would ruin the gooey melted cheese/crisp buttery toast interplay. We tend to use "fried" semi-interchangeably with "deep fried"-- that is, fried in considerable amounts of grease. And "toasted" has been so broadened as to lose most of its meaning, but since most of us own toasters, I suppose we've come to think of it as heating a thing in dry heat or under a grill on both sides at once, as with toaster ovens and the current fad for "oven-toasted subs".

Tom Lewis's "Cheese on Toast"
I have always thought it the references were to "cheese on toast" - that is, slices of bread, toasted, then you turn them over and put slices of cheese, or grated cheese, on the untoasted side, and give it a minute or so under the grill. But were there grills available then, given the heat to make this dish comes from the top, and is these days provided by an electric oven's overhead bars, or a gas oven's overhead flame jets.

John Meyn's Hovis Grilled Cheese
It's easy for me, pop two slices of Hovis under the grill, when one side is toasted, chuck on a few slices of Cheddar or better still Wendesleydale, wait till it has started to melt and then give it a quick spread, wait until it bubbles and begins to colour up then onto the plate, a few drops of Worcestershire (wooster) sauce, et voila!

Toasted Cheese in "The Wine-Dark Sea" - John Meyn
Some time ago, I asked how toasted cheese was toasted on a 19th century warship and received several accurate replies. But I should have known, there it is in chapter three of 'The Wine-Dark Sea'. "At one time this supper had consisted of toasted cheese held in a remarkably elegant piece of Irish silver, a covered outer dish that held six within it, the whole kept warm over a spirit stove: the dish was still present, gleaming with a noble brilliance, but it held only a pap made from pounded biscuit, a little goats milk and even less of rock hard cheese-rind rasped over the top and browned with a loggerhead, so that some faint odour of cheddar could still be made out."

What's a Loggerhead? - Adam Quinan
A loggerhead was a heavy chunk of metal on a stick, which was heated up to red heat to soften the pitch for inserting into seams etc. A salamander was a piece of kitchen equipment which was smaller but used in the same way. It is heated up to red heat and used as we use a red hot grill or broiler to cook the cheese from above.
The silver toasted cheese holder is described in WDS as a device to keep the cooked toasted cheese warm, not as the actual means of cooking it.

Bill Nyden's Croque Monsieur Press
I recently purchased an electric Croque Monsieur press, and have been experimenting with various ingredients. With crumbled, shredded or sliced cheese of almost any variety or combination it produces a tasty version of "grilled cheese sandwich". Add sliced sausage or ground beef and your choice of seasonings, and yum!
One surprisingly good result was obtained with PB&J... no cheese.

A Molesworth "Cheese on Toast" - Alan Pond
It's odd. Sometimes one assumes something as obvious, and then find someone else has a whole different take on it.
'Cheese on Toast' was a particular favourite of mine which I made for the family on Saturday lunch times.
Toast bread. Slice onion, 'real' cheddar cheese and thin slices of tomato. Roll and chop ham slices into small pieces.
Butter toast lightly and lay on the onion and ham, then the slice of tomato. Cover with lots of thick sliced cheese. Re-toast under the grill (This is an English recipe) until cheese 'bubbles'. Eat.
On arrival in USA, I offered my hosts a toasted cheese sandwich. I was as baffled as they were when they looked at my efforts and said 'That's not a toasted cheese sandwich'.
I have tried to make the same thing here in US as I did in UK, but the cheese, no matter where I get it, seems to 'plasticize' rather than bubble... and we won't even discuss mass-market bread.

Toasting Cheese Without Bread - Rowen
I used to think of a Grilled Cheese Sandwich* when I read the canon, but now I suppose that's not what was meant. But how to "toast" cheese without bread? Out of curiosity I tried putting a couple of slices of cheese in a frypan and heating it slowly. It bubbles up nicely, turning hard cheese into a warm, soft, bubbly mass that is tasty. But the most interesting thing is that tons of oil oozes out and separates from the cheese solids. Cheese is notoriously high in calories and fat; perhaps 'toasting' it like this improves its nutritional qualities?

Bob Saldeen's Grilled Cheese
I was always under the impression that "toasted cheese" was what Americans call "grilled cheese." Grilled Cheese: Take a tablespoon of KerryGold Irish butter, melt in skillet. Put slice of bread in skillet, add some slices of cheese (swiss is good), put another piece of bread on top. When the bottom slice is browned, flip it over, brown other side. Throw in a little more butter. Voila!

A Cuban Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Jessie Strader
Now, for the ultimate in grilled cheese sandwiches, you want a Cuban Sandwich: start with Cuban bread (or Italian bread if you can't get Cuban or even a baguette or ciabatta will do) and layer in this order: bread, aioli, garlic pickle, swiss cheese, roast pork, sweet ham, swiss cheese, garlic pickle, aioli, bread. Don't stint the aioli. Close it up. Coat your sandwich press with butter spray and grill the sandwich until cheese is bubbly and the bread is pressed flat and crisply brown. (The same sandwich done with challah or any other egg bread is known in the NYC fondas as a Media Noche.) Some fat-conscious people substitute mustard for the aioli, but it's just not the same and I say nuts to that: what's the good of living long if you're not living well?

The Canon's Toasted Cheese - Bruce Trinque
In none of the references to toasted cheese in the Canon is there any reference to the toasted cheese being served with soft tack or hard tack or anything of that nature. I had assumed that the cheese was over bread or maybe a cracker, but upon further reflection I think I was wrong. It seems to me that what is being described is cheese only.

"Toasted" Cheese vs. "Grilled" Cheese - Nathan Varnum
It's more convoluted than that for me (and many restaurants). I think we agree on what is called a "toasted cheese" (slice of cheese on bread, toasted in a toaster oven or grill). However, a fried cheese sandwich is generally called, cryptically, a "grilled cheese."

Toasted Cheese - Sara Waterson
I toast one side of my soft tack, and put the cheese - sometimes grated, sometimes in thin slices, and sometimes in bigger chunks - onto the other side after very lighting toasting that too. After that I usually add black pepper, and Worcestershire Sauce [Lea & Perrins]; and sometimes finely chopped spring onion, and/or tomato, and/or bits of smoked streaky bacon, previously grilled and scissored. Gruyere is a good alternative to Cheddar, as are regional British cheeses such as Leicester and Wensleydale; also the noble manchego if you can find any.
I've got an old fashioned 'sandwich toaster' - like a clamp. Dates from the 50s or 60s I think... it heats up the bread and filling wonderfully - great for toasted cheese.

Rowen's Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Butter two slices of bread. Heat frypan. Place one slice, butter-side down, in the pan. Top with a slice of cheese. Place other slice of bread on top, butter side up. When the bottom is nicely browned and the cheese has begun to melt flip the sandwich over, and toast till cheese is melted and bread is browned.

Welsh Rabbit / Rarebit
Toast and Cheese Sauce - Andrew Midkiff
The recipe I use is as follows:
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
1 cup beer, darker is better, but never tried stout, might work
1/2 pound sharp cheese
tabasco (not traditional, but I like it)
Worshersheshtershishtershire sauce
Bread
butter for bread
Melt the 2 tbl. butter in small sauce pan, add flour and stir cooking over low heat until it starts to turn a tan color. This will take about as long as it takes to drink one beer. This is called a One Beer Roux. Some of lighter constitutions may need to make it a Half Beer Roux. Slowly add the cup beer stirring the whole time to make sure there aren't any lumps. Stir and cook on low for about 3-5 minutes. Add cheese and stir until smooth. Add tabasco and Worshersheshtershishtershire sauce to taste. Pour over toasted and buttered bread and serve. You can also use stock, milk or even tomato juice instead of the beer, but I prefer the beer.
The left-over sauce keeps well in the refrigerator and to reprise, just toast some bread, butter and spread with the cheese, then either pop under the broiler or in a toaster oven until melted. I also like to sprinkle just a little paprika on the bread before serving.
Serve with a tart green salad using just lemon juice and olive oil for dressing, and red wine. Bob's your uncle, a repast fit for a king!

Welsh Rarebit - Jay Reay
I also like my version of Welsh rarebit (which it is toasted cheese to Lissuns) - again thick toast (I'm badly brought up you can see) with cheese previously melted over lightly fried onions mixed with Lea & Perrins before toasting to a lightly burnt, chewy surface.

Further Variations on Rarebit - Matt Cranor
Try putting a slice of ham, or a fried/poached egg, or both, on the toast, then cover with the sauce and brown as before. As Andrew suspects, stout (or porter) works well -- is maybe even best. I also add a half-teaspoon or so of dried or prepared mustard.
Yum.

Welsh Rarebit - Jessie Strader
I've always assumed that Jack and Stephen's toasted cheese was something akin to Welsh Rarebit (or Rabbit if you inclined to spell it that way). A bubbly dish of liquid cheese, fortified perhaps with a bit of wine or porter, a dash of Worcestershire (did they have that then?), and a splotch of mustard (I know they had that!) -- a concoction that could be sopped up with soft tack. I seem to recall some fleeting description of Stephen (or maybe Jack) mopping up the last of his cheese, which is what gave me the impression that the bread is served separately.
Which they really needed was some nice taco chips, don't you think? Come to think of it, Jack and Stephen would just love Wisconsin-style cheddar-and-beer soup -- hot and hot.

"Hunting the Welch Rabbit" - Edmund Burton
A picture of a salamander (scroll halfway down the page): "Hunting the Welch Rabbit"
"Put a Salamander in the fire, or a large Poker, or the Bottom of a Fire-Shovel will do."--Mrs. Bradley, 1756.
In addition to Welch Rabbit, there was Scotch Rabbit and English Rabbit.

Welsh Rabbit - Charlie Gifford
Welsh Rabbit is probably closer to the proper term rather than the term Rarebit. While both have almost equally old uses, rabbit is more widespread (except for the rather precious use by Victorians). It certainly is not a Welsh dish. Rabbits can be found all over England as well as in Wales. There are London Rabbits, Cambridge Rabbits as well as the generic Cheese Rabbit. All have their origin, I believe, in toasted cheese. I am sorry to say that anything I have to say on the subject is my opinion only as I lost all my information in a simultaneous hard drive crash and back-up self-destruction. I had spent a large amount of time assembling material and miss it greatly. It was a topic of great interest to me. Someday I will get back to it. In the meantime, from memory, here is a recipe for a London rabbit dating from ca. 1660.
London Rabbit
Cut a slice of coarse (country) bread about 1- to 1.5-inches thick. Toast the bread lightly on both sides. Place the bread on a heat-proof platter and pour as much ale (or porter) on the toasted bread as the bread will take without becoming mushy. It will take a surprising amount. Put sliced or grated cheese (Cheddar or similar) on the toast - a goodly amount. Place the toast under a spider, grill (UK), or broiler (US) and toast until cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.
Note 1: A typical Cambridge Rabbit (ca. 1790) would substitute a Sherry or other fortified wine for the ale, and would substitute the Cheddar with Gloucester.
Note 2: Different rabbits are still being created, usually using the term rarebit (gaack!). One that I particularly like is the "Dublin Rarebit" at Fortnum and Mason. It uses Guinness, an Irish Cheddar, and a tomato slice.
Note 3: Never forget the "Buck Rabbit" with it's crowning fried or poached egg.