Toasted Cheese, or Scotch Rare-bit

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861
Source
The Book of Household Management
Time
Cook: 5 min Total: 5 min
Yield
1.0 slice per person
Status
success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (6)
Instructions (12)
  1. Cut some nice rich sound cheese into rather thin slices.
  2. Melt it in a cheese-toaster on a hot plate, or over steam.
  3. When melted, add a small quantity of mixed mustard and a seasoning of pepper.
  4. Stir the cheese until it is completely dissolved.
  5. Brown it before the fire, or with a salamander.
  6. Fill the bottom of the cheese-toaster with hot water.
  7. Serve with dry or buttered toasts, whichever may be preferred.
  8. The cheese is melted in the upper tin, which is placed in another vessel of boiling water, so keeping the preparation beautifully hot.
  9. A small quantity of porter, or port wine, is sometimes mixed with the cheese.
  10. If the cheese be not very rich, a few pieces of butter may be mixed with it to great advantage.
  11. Sometimes the melted cheese is spread on the toasts, and then laid in the cheese-dish at the top of the hot water.
  12. Whichever way it is served, it is highly necessary that the mixture be very hot, and very quickly sent to table, or it will be worthless.
Original Text
TOASTED CHEESE, or SCOTCH RARE-BIT. 1651. INGREDIENTS.—A few slices of rich cheese, toast, mustard, and pepper. [Illustration: HOT-WATER CHEESE-DISH.] Mode.—Cut some nice rich sound cheese into rather thin slices; melt it in a cheese-toaster on a hot plate, or over steam, and, when melted, add a small quantity of mixed mustard and a seasoning of pepper; stir the cheese until it is completely dissolved, then brown it before the fire, or with a salamander. Fill the bottom of the cheese-toaster with hot water, and serve with dry or buttered toasts, whichever may be preferred. Our engraving illustrates a cheese-toaster with hot-water reservoir: the cheese is melted in the upper tin, which is placed in another vessel of boiling water, so keeping the preparation beautifully hot. A small quantity of porter, or port wine, is sometimes mixed with the cheese; and, if it be not very rich, a few pieces of butter may be mixed with it to great advantage. Sometimes the melted cheese is spread on the toasts, and then laid in the cheese-dish at the top of the hot water. Whichever way it is served, it is highly necessary that the mixture be very hot, and very quickly sent to table, or it will be worthless. Time.—About 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Average cost, 1-1/2d. per slice. Sufficient.—Allow a slice to each person. Seasonable at any time.
Notes
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