When I first made Welsh rarebit decades ago, I already knew it was pronounced “rabbit.” Or is it?

If you don’t know, Welsh rarebit is just fancy cheese sauce on toast. Only in the UK . . .

It has been decades since I made it, but I was inspired by NPR’s “Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me” news quiz show. Each week, they have a “Bluff the Listener” segment, in which the listener has to figure out which of three news stories is real. This week’s topic was “400 rabbits.”

From the show, and probably copyright: “Creating a cozy, communal feeling is a challenge for holiday parties all over the world this year, which is why the Association of Welsh Councils decided to do something special for its 400 members last week. They wanted every council member, selectperson and queen-appointed lord lieutenant in the country to enjoy a savory supper of Welsh rarebit together on a nationwide Zoom call. So they sent hundreds of orders of the traditional cheese toast to individual homes – or at least that’s what they thought.

What actually happened was 400 people each received a live rabbit the day before the holiday party. . . . Someone messed up the order for rarebit, and each rabbit arrived with a note that said, for our holiday party, please heat up in microwave or eat as is.”

Inspiring!

And a bit special to me, because I used some of my homegrown Cheddar:

It’s the usual sauce story, heat the fat, then stir in the flour constantly for a couple of minutes over medium heat until barely browned (2 Tbsp. fat: 2 Tbsp. flour: 1 C. liquid).

Then whisk in the liquid (a can of beer, forgotten in the ingredients pic), and whisk until smooth.

Add all the other ingredients and whisk until the cheese dissolves.

The sauce is very rich, so some pickled vegetables made the perfect foil. A light, delicious lunch.

Welsh Rarebit with Pickled Vegetables:

Yum!

-R