Embroidered Rabbit. England, 17th century c. 1625 V&A

This little blush colored  bunny ( a detail from an embroidered jacket) made me think of another sort of Blushing Bunny….

Miss Bunny and Thumper…from Bambi – but not this blushing bunny

This Blushing Bunny:

From “Worldly Blushing Bunny”  by Charles Perry Jan. 3. 2007 LA Times

One that is Welsh Rabbit ( or rarebit) with a can of tomato soup added

Campbell’s made soup good food; Andy Warhol made soup cans good art

Rabbits go back to Hannah Glasse

A modern edition of The Art of Cookery is titled ” First Catch Your Hare.” Very appropriate for the first Welsh rabbit recipe to be there, too! Even though we all know that hares and rabbits aren’t the same thing…

and then are one or two more, the way there is never ONE rabbit….

18^th century ‘Rabbit’ Recipes

1747

To make a Scotch rabbit,toast the bread very nicely on both sides, butter it, cut a slice of cheese about as big as the bread, toast it on both sides, and lay it on the bread.

-1747. Hannah Glasse. The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy. Prospect Books ed. p.95

 To make a Welch rabbit, toast the bread on both sides, then toast the cheese on one side, lay it on the toast, and with a hot iron brown the other side. You may rub it over with mustard.

-1747. Hannah Glasse. The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy. Prospect Books ed. p.95

To make an English rabbit,  toast the bread brown on both sides, lay it in a plate before the fire, pour a glass of red wine over it, and let it soak the wine up. Then cut some cheese very thin and lay it very thick over the bread, put it in a tin oven before the fire, and it will be toasted and browned presently. Serve it away hot.

-1747. Hannah Glasse. The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy. Prospect Books ed. p.95

Or do it thus. Toast the bread and soak it in the wine, set it before the fire, rub butter over the bottom of a plate, lay the cheese on, pour in two or three spoonfuls of white wine, cover it with another plate, set it over a chafing-dish of hot coals for two or three minutes, then stir it till it is done and well mixed. You may stir in a little mustard; when it is enough lay it on the bread, just brown it with a hot shovel.

-1747. Hannah Glasse. The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy. Prospect Books ed. p.95

The 1740’s

Scotch Rabbit

“Toast a bit of bread on both sides then lay it on a plate before the fire. Pour a glass of red wine over it, and let it soak the wine up, then cut some cheese very thin and lay it thick over the bread and put it in a tin oven before the fire and it will be toasted and browned presently….You may stir in a little mustard.”

—   Scottish manuscript, cookbook of Moffat family.

• The Thirteen Colonies Cook Book, p. 238

 1753          

To make a Scotch Rabbit.

Toast a Piece of Bread on both Sides, butter it, cut a Slice of Cheese about as big as the Bread, toast it on both sides, and lay it on the Bread.

-1753. The Lady’s Companion. London. p. 264-5.(foodtimeline)

 

To make a Welch Rabbit.

Toast the Bread on both Sides, then Toast the Cheese on one Side, lay on the Toast, and with a hot iron brown the other Side. You may rub it over with Mustard.

-1753. The Lady’s Companion. London. p. 264-5.

To make a Portugal Rabbit.

Toast a Slice of Bread brown on both Sides, then lay it in a Plate before the Fire, pour a Glass of red Wine over it, and let it soak the Wine up; then cut some Cheese very thin, and lay it very thick over the Bread; put it in a Tin Oven before the Fire, and it will be toasted and brown’d presently. Serve it away hot with Sugar over it, and Wine poured over.

-1753. The Lady’s Companion. London. p. 264-5.

Or do it thus.

Toast the Bread and soak it in the Wine, set it before the Fire, cut your Cheese in very thin Slices, rub Butter over the Bottom of a Plate, lay the Cheese on, pour in two or three Spoonfuls of White Wine, cover it with another Plate, set it over a Chafing-dish of hot Coals for two or three Minutes, then stir it till done, and well mixed. You may stir in a little Mustard; when it is enough lay it on the Bread, just brown with a hot Shovel. Serve it away hot.

– 1753. The Lady’s Companion. London. p. 264-5

An Italian Rabbit.

Toast a Slice of Bread, butter it, put upon it a Slice of Cheese the Length of your Bread, Let that be toasted; then put upon the Cheese some Mustard and Pepper, then Parsley minced, and upon the whole some Anchovies, in Pieces, very thick, to serve away.

-1753. The Lady’s Companion. London. p. 264-5

The Welsh are not alone in this! Scotch, English as well as Italian and Portuguese. This is one well traveled rabbit.

Italian rabbit 15th century

Sooooo

when do rabbits become rarebits?

1852

No. 164. How to Make a Welsh Rarebit.

First, make a round of hot toast, butter it and cover it with thin slices of cheese; put it before the fire until the cheese is melted, then season with mustard, pepper, and salt, and eat the rarebit while hot.

• Francatelle, Charles. A Plain Cookery Book. p. 78.

But that’s not the end of rabbits – rarebits and rabbits continue together through the centuries

1858

Welsh rabbit.

Welsh rabbit is made by melting cheese and adding wine and other seasonings.

• Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book. p. 206.

I haven’t been able to fill in the 100 year gap between The Lady’s Companion and Miss Beecher (who is Catherine Beecher, Harriot Beecher Stowe’s sister), but this already became more obsessive/compulsive then it began.

In the 2oth century, English Monkey, Yorkshire Buck, Scotch Rarebit, Cheese Muff, The Mackie, Oyster Rarebit, Midnight Rabbit and of course, Blushing Bunny.

Welsh Rarebit

6 servings

Melt in the top of a double boiler over simmering water:

1 tablespoon butter

Stir in and heat until warm:

1 cup beer, ale, milk, or cream

Gradually, stir in:

4 cups shredded sharp Cheddar or Colby (1 pound)

Cook, stirring constantly with a fork, until the cheese is melted. Stir in:

1 egg, beaten

    1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

    1 teaspoon salt

    ½ teaspoon sweet paprika

    ¼ teaspoon dry mustard

    (¼ teaspoon curry powder)

    Pinch of ground red pepper

Cook, stirring, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

Serve at once on top of

12 slices white, rye, or other bread of your choice, toasted, or 18 crackers

 The Mackie

Prepare Welsh Rarebit, above, topping toasted slices of white bread with sliced tomatoes and crisp bacon before covering with cheese mixture.

Blushing Bunny

Prepare Welsh Rarebit, above, substituting tomato juice or canned condensed cream of tomato soup for the beer or the milk.

• Rombauer, Irma S., Becker, Marion Rombauer and Ethan Becker. Joy of Cooking. Scribner: NY. p. 112.

 

and on the Rabbit/Rarebit debate, Joy of Cooking says this:

“Our correspondence is closed on the subject of rarebit versus rabbit. We stick to “rarebit” because “rabbit” already means something else. We can only answer the controversy with a story. A stranger trying to calm a small crying boy: “I wouldn’t cry like that if I were you.” Small boy: “You cry your way and I’ll cry mine.”

I realize that the history or recipes and food  isn’t quite the same as MY history with food and recipes, I’ve stared another blog  for the historical things. Foodways Pilgrim will continue as my journey with food. But for the historical inquiry, The Backstory of Welsh Rabbit (or Rarebit, as the case may be) or What Did They Serve at the First Thanksgiving sorts of questions/stories/cool background, that will now be at Plays with Fire.

Cena in Emmaus – 1601 –  Caravaggio at National Gallery, London

Caravaggio, Supper at Emmaus (again)  this in 1606 and now in Milan at the Brera Fine Arts Academy .How has the food changed – and why?

   Plays With Fire

Vincent Van Gogh Landscape with Rabbits 1889