Walton Welsh Rarebit

(C)2017 by  Rick Walton - A Walton Family Historian

There were a lot of mouths to feed and they didn’t have much money so Welsh Rabbit became a family favorite...

"Do you know what Welsh Rabbit is?" asked my cousin Claudia in a recent email. 

She was talking to her mom and wanted to pass along a Walton family story. She wondered if my father had ever heard this story from his branch of the Walton family.

Claudia's mom, Barbara, daughter of Harry Walton (1897-1981), was looking through a recipe book recently and came across a short note on a recipe that reminded her of something about her father.

The recipe said that peasant workers for the higher ups in Wales weren’t allowed to hunt rabbit or other wild game so they substitued melted cheese in a dish called Welsh Rabbit as it was inexpensive and it fed alot of  family. Barbara said that she remembered her father, Harry, making it most every Sunday for supper. 

Harry Walton and his mother Constance Wilhelmina Walton circa 1920's
(Is he hiding a plate of Welsh rabbit behind his back?) 

His version was a tomato and cheese type of sauce and was poured over mostly crackers or toast. She figured he got it from his mother, Constance Wilhelmina (1869-1931), as there were a lot of mouths to feed and they didn’t have much, especially after her husband George died in 1910. 

I spoke to my dad. He did not recall his father, Fred (1908-1980), mentioning this particular story but he was knew his father grew up in a poor family. Stories were told of how his older brothers left school to contribute financially. This is born out by claims on their WWI draft cards!

Reviewing the census records from 1900 to 1940. I have to give Constance a lot of credit for keeping her family together in what must have been difficult circumstances. I doubt that George had life insurance and certainly no pension. When he died unexpectedly, the family must have had a tough time. Constance lists her occupation basically as housewife. Perhaps she took in laundry or did some other menial labor to bring in extra money. There was no welfare or food stamps. If she was lucky, and not too proud, she might have received some small aid from the church. Although the address, changed with each census, the family members stayed together until one by one the older ones left the nest to start their own families. But until then, they all contributed to the family coffers, including my grandfather, Fred, who worked as soon as he was old enough.

Claudia and her mom are in the process of trying to find the actual "Walton" Welsh rabbit recipe. Perhaps a Walton cousin has this recipe from among their mother or grandmother's recipes and can share it with us?

Rabbit or rarebit which is correct?

My Rarebit lunch in Bath, England in 2011

According to the Oxford dictionary, there is no evidence that Welsh rabbit, was originated by the Welsh. In fact, some sources credit this to an early English dish. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the term "Welsh" was used as a patronizing epithet for an inferior grade. For example a Welsh pearl was one of poor quality. Welsh rabbit may therefore have started life as a tongue-in-cheek slur to imply that the Welsh were too poor to afford meat.  In England, rabbit was the poor man's meat, in Wales the poor man's meat was cheese. The Welsh have always had a reputation for being passionately fond of cheese. A fourteenth-century text humorously tells the tale of the Welsh people in heaven being loud and troublesome. In order to get rid of them St Peter went outside the Pearly Gates and shouted ‘Caws pobi’ (Welsh for ‘toasted cheese’)—whereupon all the Welsh rushed out and the gates were shut on them.

So is is Rabbit or Rarebit? The earliest use was as Welsh Rabbit.  Some sources claim that rarebit is the spelling based on folk etymology, while others claim it is simply to distinguish that in fact it contains no rabbit. 

There are endless variations of this recipe including versions called  English Rabbit,  Irish Rabbit and  Scotch Rabbit. Essentially it is a savoury sauce of melted cheese and various other ingredients, served hot, and  poured over thick slices of toasted bread.

I don't recall my mom serving "Welsh rabbit", although a family favorite in our household was toasted cheese sandwiches. They went great with a steaming cup of hot tomato soup on a wintery Sunday evening.

They are still a favorite of mine, although my wife corrects me every time I mention it. In her household they ate "Grilled Cheese" sandwiches! 

Funny how things change, I bet if you went into a nice restaurant and ordered Welsh rarebit today it would be an expensive, snobby, but not particularly filling meal. I'll stick with my childhood favorite- a toasted cheese sandwich...uh make that grilled cheese!

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