I spent Leap Year Day 2024 on the radio airwaves co-hosting my Feb. 29 Of Notoriety broadcast on WJOB 1230 AM with my fellow food columnist pal Laura Kurella, from Traverse, Michigan, to co-host a special themed show.
Even though we were surrounded in the studio by large ceramic frogs propped on the studio desk, our hoping hot topic off the airwaves was about my fascination for the centuries’ old recipe for Welsh rabbit, the latter which does NOT hop, since the recipe has nothing to do with rabbit being an ingredient.
Whenever she happens to be in town, Kurella helps me co-host my weekly radio show, and there’s never any shortage of topics. She hails originally from Whiting, and remains devoted to Northwest Indiana, preserving both Region recipes and her own family’s kitchen file of menu favorites.
An author of three previous cookbooks, “Midwest Morsels,” “Fabulous Desserts” and “Fabulous Tiny Bites and Beverages,” as well as her first children’s book, “A Delicious Day at Mrs. K’s,” about the importance of nutrition, Kurella is a member of the Association of Food Journalists.
For her Leap Year Day studio visit, Kurella brought a selection of fine cheeses to sample from Cabot Creamery, all made from the dairy cow milk from the pastures of Vermont, which Kurella advised me that “the dairy cows are gently raised.” Established in 1919, more details about the history and variety of cheeses produced can be found online at www.cabotcreamery.com.
It was the topic of cheese which brought Kurella to transition to the topic of Welsh rabbit. The latter recipe is referenced often in movies and television, usually in a British-based series like “The Crown.” But while growing up, PBS TV food icon Julia Child also mentioned it. I even recall it as a brief plot point in director Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 mystery film “The 39 Steps.”
“During the early 18th century, Welsh rabbit hippity-hopped its way onto the food stage initially in an off-putting way,” Kurella explained.
“However, it offered such a mouth-watering combination of flavors and textures that it became a dish to experience many a renaissance that’s helped it ricochet all the way into present day. Also known as ‘Welsh rarebit,’ as well as some other names, it must be noted that this dish contains no rabbit and was so named solely in a derogatory way.”
Kurella said the name origin was a term to serve as a slur against the Welsh people, since during this era the term “Welsh” was synonymous with “inferior, fake, or counterfeit.” Since rabbit was the easiest food source to catch at the time, it was intended as an insult to say that the Welsh were so inept that melted cheese on bread was the closest thing they’d ever get to eating a rabbit stew.
“While its name was originally intended to be malicious, in truth, Welsh rabbit is quite delicious, especially if you enjoy a warm, crusty bread that’s swimming in a copious amount of equally warm and ooey-gooey cheeses,” she said.
“A bonus to this dish is that it is indeed hare-free, making its simple ingredients quite suitable for the Lenten table of meatless menus too. In the 1940s, meatless meals were practically the norm. Between the war and single-income households, many households simply could not afford to eat meat or could not obtain meat due to war rationing.”
She said as a result, many cookbooks of this era began to feature numerous ways to make mock meat dishes to help fool the family into thinking they still being served a meat ingredient course.
“Recipes that stand the test of time are truly a testament to their goodness, and they come complete with the added bonus of serving you a side trip down memory lane,” Kurella said.
Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa @comhs.org or mail your questions: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.
Laura Kurella’s Welsh Rabbit
Makes 2 servings
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon unrefined (colored) sea salt
1 dash cayenne pepper
2 cups whole half & half or cream
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
8 ounce, (brick) sharp cheddar cheese, hand-grated
Toasted white bread or rye bread (slices)
Directions:
1. In a double boiler over boiling water, melt butter. Stir in flour, salt, and cayenne. Cook until blended and raw taste is cooked out of flour, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in milk then Worcestershire and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir in cheese a handful at a time, cooking and stirring just until melted and well blended. Do not overcook.
3. Serve hot over warm, toasted, thick-cut slices of your favorite bread.
