In October of 1997 I was on a ferry from Calais, France to Dover, England. From Dover my friend and I had a long train ride to the North of Scotland. After a month of hostels and backpacks and European men with questionable intentions, my friend and I were still friends, but we did not have eight hours of conversation left in us. I needed a book.
I picked two books from the duty-free gift shop on the Ferry, and read them both on the train. One was The Yellow Admiral by Patrick O'Brian, number 18 in a popular series featuring the brave, dashing sailor Jack Aubrey and his friend the naturalist and intelligence agent, Stephen Maturin.
The eighteenth book is not the best place to jump into a story, but O'Brian and his publisher knew that, and the new reader is helped along with crucial bits of backstory, so I didn't have trouble following it. I've forgotten the other book I bought that day, but in the nearly 16 years since I first read The Yellow Admiral I've been pecking away at the series, in order, and its stories of battle, sickness, family drama, political intrigue, natural discovery and the deep friendship of the two main characters.
The one thing the books don't have is luscious descriptions of the food that is served. When food is described it's either to underline the shipboard routine, or to suggest the excess which is served at the officers dinner. With that, and the food being from another culture and another time, I do not walk away from the books thinking about food. Salt horse is probably never going to be on my menu. The exception is the toasted cheese that Aubrey and Maturin eat as a snack when they are up late playing music together. There's no style, except that Aubrey's steward, Killick, always serves the toasted cheese in a special silver dish with an alcohol burner to keep the food warm. It's simple comfort food, and it's the one foodstuff I really wanted to recreate.
Toasted cheese is also referred to as Welsh, Gloucester or English rabbit, depending on what is added to the recipe beyond cheese and toast. I mixed the liquid in with the cheese, although most recipes have the liquid poured over the toast. Aubrey's cook probably used port, as it seemed to be readily available, regardless of how long the ship had been at sea. I used red wine, but white wine, beer or milk would all work.
I don't have a sterling chafing dish for my toasted cheese, so we have to eat it as soon as it's ready. I think Jack Aubrey will forgive me for that.
8 ounces cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup wine, beer or milk
8 slices bread
2 Tablespoons butter
Turn broiler on high.
Shred the cheese, mix with mustard, Worcestershire sauce and liquid and set aside.
Toast the bread, spread with butter, and arrange the slices on a cookie sheet. Distribute the cheese mixture on the toast and spread to the edges.
Broil the bread until the cheese begins to bubble and brown. Mine took about 5 minutes, and I rotated the pan about halfway through to keep the browning even. Eat as breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack to fortify yourself for a late night music session with a good friend.
(A note on Worcestershire sauce: the standard bottle wrapped in brown paper contains anchovies and so it is not vegetarian, but there are lot of vegetarian options, so it's easy to accommodate vegetarians with this dish.)
I picked two books from the duty-free gift shop on the Ferry, and read them both on the train. One was The Yellow Admiral by Patrick O'Brian, number 18 in a popular series featuring the brave, dashing sailor Jack Aubrey and his friend the naturalist and intelligence agent, Stephen Maturin.
The eighteenth book is not the best place to jump into a story, but O'Brian and his publisher knew that, and the new reader is helped along with crucial bits of backstory, so I didn't have trouble following it. I've forgotten the other book I bought that day, but in the nearly 16 years since I first read The Yellow Admiral I've been pecking away at the series, in order, and its stories of battle, sickness, family drama, political intrigue, natural discovery and the deep friendship of the two main characters.
The one thing the books don't have is luscious descriptions of the food that is served. When food is described it's either to underline the shipboard routine, or to suggest the excess which is served at the officers dinner. With that, and the food being from another culture and another time, I do not walk away from the books thinking about food. Salt horse is probably never going to be on my menu. The exception is the toasted cheese that Aubrey and Maturin eat as a snack when they are up late playing music together. There's no style, except that Aubrey's steward, Killick, always serves the toasted cheese in a special silver dish with an alcohol burner to keep the food warm. It's simple comfort food, and it's the one foodstuff I really wanted to recreate.
Toasted cheese is also referred to as Welsh, Gloucester or English rabbit, depending on what is added to the recipe beyond cheese and toast. I mixed the liquid in with the cheese, although most recipes have the liquid poured over the toast. Aubrey's cook probably used port, as it seemed to be readily available, regardless of how long the ship had been at sea. I used red wine, but white wine, beer or milk would all work.
I don't have a sterling chafing dish for my toasted cheese, so we have to eat it as soon as it's ready. I think Jack Aubrey will forgive me for that.
8 ounces cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup wine, beer or milk
8 slices bread
2 Tablespoons butter
Turn broiler on high.
Shred the cheese, mix with mustard, Worcestershire sauce and liquid and set aside.
Toast the bread, spread with butter, and arrange the slices on a cookie sheet. Distribute the cheese mixture on the toast and spread to the edges.
Broil the bread until the cheese begins to bubble and brown. Mine took about 5 minutes, and I rotated the pan about halfway through to keep the browning even. Eat as breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack to fortify yourself for a late night music session with a good friend.
(A note on Worcestershire sauce: the standard bottle wrapped in brown paper contains anchovies and so it is not vegetarian, but there are lot of vegetarian options, so it's easy to accommodate vegetarians with this dish.)
I've always wondered about that when I've seen it in books, but imagined it was just grilled cheese. This is much more lovely.
ReplyDeleteIf you believe what you read on the internet, the grilled cheese is the American equivalent, and there's no reason why the cheese mixture here couldn't be the filling for a grilled cheese if you were looking for something that didn't require a knife and fork.
DeleteThat looks delish. I think the most traditional rarebit is made with ale, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteMy husband lived on cheese-on-toast for most of his college years, but he took the minimalist bread + cheese route.
My guess is that the liquid depended on what was available. My brief research didn't turn up a definitive history. No doubt someone will come correct me.
DeleteThank very much . I read the 20 books and thought about toasted cheese many times at night when Jack and Stephen were having their Toasted Cheese snack .
ReplyDeleteI just got around to finding out exactly what toasted cheese was because of you . Thanks for putting this one to bed .
Slainte !
Thanks for stopping by.
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