Welsh Rarebit, Margaret Gadd Ashley
I actually cooked this dinner quite awhile ago but I haven’t posted it because of frustrations. The recipe was contributed to “Queen Anne Goes to The Kitchen” by Margaret Gadd Ashley of the Centreville area. Despite some obvious relation to Janet Gadd Doehler of “Cheddar Chowder,” I couldn’t find out much about Margaret Gadd Ashley. I believe she was born in 1908. She passed away in 1980. Her husband descended from a family of blacksmiths who operated in Kent and Queen Anne’s county from the late 1800s up until World War II when a scarcity of materials made the trade impractical.
The story of the Ashley blacksmiths, as well as every grueling detail of a property they once owned can be found in this epic Maryland Historical Trust report.
Weird comic from 1940.
There are a few specious ideas about the origins of Welsh Rarebit and its name that annoy me too much to even write about… so I’ll stick to Wikipedia on this one.
Michael Quinion writes: “Welsh rabbit is basically cheese on toast (the word is not ‘rarebit’ by the way, that’s the result of false etymology; ‘rabbit’ is here being used in the same way as ‘turtle’ in ‘mock-turtle soup’, which has never been near a turtle, or ‘duck’ in ‘Bombay duck’, which was actually a dried fish called bummalo)”. – Wikipedia
Wikipedia also claims that “The word rarebit has no other use than in Welsh rabbit” but this recipe in Eat, Drink & Be Merry in Maryland contradicts that:
No cheese in sight. The above actually sounds like a recipe for panhas/scrapple. The conflation is indeed curious.
In his 1926 edition of the Dictionary of Modern English Usage, the grammarian H. W. Fowler states a forthright view: “Welsh Rabbit is amusing and right. Welsh Rarebit is stupid and wrong.” – Wikipedia
Aside from that recipe, the only other Welsh Rarebit/Rabbit recipe in my database is from Mrs. B.C. Howard’s 1881 “Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen.”
Origins and etymology aside, this is obviously a delicious and satisfying dish and a good meal for a cold winter night.
1887 rarebit humor
Recipe:
- 1.5 Tablespoon butter
- 1.5 Tablespoon flour
- 1.5 Cup milk
- 2 Cups sharp cheese
- .5 Teaspoon mustard powder
- .5 Teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Make a roux of butter & flour on low heat. Gradually add milk. Add cheese and let it melt slowly; then add other seasonings. Pour over Uneeda biscuits, English muffins, or toast. Optional: Gently broil for a minute or two before serving.
Recipe Adapted from “Queen Anne Goes to The Kitchen”
