"Le Welsh" - the French version of a Welsh Rarebit

[John_Hartley]

You'll often see "Le Welsh" on menus across the Pas de Calais. 'Tis a version of the Welsh rarebit - I've had it a couple of times and it was wetter than a rarebit.

But, my question is about origin. Anyone know why it's so popular? And does it have a wartime connection - perhaps, British troops asking for it in estaminets, along with the egg & chips?

[Mark Hone]

'Un Welsh' was mentioned in a thread I started a few months ago about 'cheggion', a cheese, egg and onion concoction supposedly brought back by Tommies who had sampled it in Flemish farmhouses. I don't think we got very far in determining whether they were related.

[Hedley Malloch]

You'll often see "Le Welsh" on menus across the Pas de Calais. 'Tis a version of the Welsh rarebit - I've had it a couple of times and it was wetter than a rarebit.

But, my question is about origin. Anyone know why it's so popular? And does it have a wartime connection - perhaps, British troops asking for it in estaminets, along with the egg & chips?

Why is it so popular? Because it is 100% fat - it will stop your heart if you look at it too long - served with chips and consumed with prodigious amounts of beer. In short it meets all the requirements of the locals' idea of a balanced meal. It is well known in French Flanders that beer, cheese, fat and chips all count towards your five-a-day.

[John_Hartley]

beer, cheese, fat and chips all count towards your five-a-day.

Doesnt current nutritional research confirm that they are also calorie free?

[Mark Hone]

I encountered 'Welsh avec saumon' as a special on the menu at the Kasteelhof estaminet in Cassel. I was tempted to try it but I'm not that keen on salmon. Monsieur Le Patron did not feel the need to explain the concept of 'un Welsh' when he was running through what was available so it is clearly very well known in these parts. 

[trajan]

On 4/26/2016 at 14:42, John_Hartley said:

Doesnt current nutritional research confirm that they are also calorie free?

 

And sugar free to boot!

[jonbem]

and definitely preferable to "andouillette"!

Edited 17 July , 2016 by jonbem
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[John_Hartley]

57 minutes ago, jonbem said:

and definitely preferable to "andouillette"!

I regard myself as quite an adventureous eater and will try anything once. And "once" is the operative word with "andouilette de Cambrai". I think it is possibly the vilest thing I have ever put on my mouth, chewed and swallowed.

[jonbem]

The actual grilled "sausage", well CHEW is the operative word here! You need the mustard to overcome the "flavour".

However, I recently had Andouillette AU MAROILLES, chopped up in a cheese sauce, at O Dejeuner in Lens. much more palatable

[Martin Bennitt]

If you want cheese on toast in France go for croque monsieur, which also has ham in it, or for a bit more cholesterol try croque madame which has a fried egg on top.

 

Andouillette is apparently the same as chitterlings in English, but never having tried either I wouldn't know.

 

Cheers Martin B

[Mark Hone]

I tried andouilletes a few years ago in Rheims and like Mr Hartley found them fairly stomach-churning. Let's put it like this, I haven't been tempted to order them again. 

[John_Hartley]

2 hours ago, Martin Bennitt said:

If you want cheese on toast in France go for croque monsieur, which also has ham in it, or for a bit more cholesterol try croque madame which has a fried egg on top.

 

Or the Belgian classic of croque boom boom (boum boum?) - a croque monsieur with a dollop of Bolognese sauce over it. Much nicer than it sounds.

[Mark Hone]

Like most things in life, Croque Monsieurs and their relatives seem to be succumbing to 'gigantism' at least in cafes around Ypres. No longer a cheap eat consisting of two bits of bread with a thin layer of cheese and ham, now the bread fills the plate and is accompanied by mounds of salad. Average price 8 euros 50. Still, it was nice eating one in the sun at lunchtime as a bicycle race got under way in the Grote Markt. 

[Dragon]

I subscribe to a French cookery magazine and le Welsh crops up quite frequently. It may be le Welsh des Flandres, le welsh du Nord or even le Welsh du Munster (as in the town of Munster, Alsace and made with the local cheese, Munster). They tend to recommend that it should be made with le Chester (ie Cheshire cheese), but as that's virtually impossible to find in France, le Cheddar is the next best option. It usually seems to be based on bread lining a small oven-proof dish, bière Anglaise which they translate as Pale Ale, mixed with grated or crumbled cheese and possibly sauce Worcestershire, and / or la moutarde anglaise, then oven baked. In some recipes the beer is poured over the bread before the grated cheese is put on top. All this beer probably accounts for the rather soggy texture which John remarked on.

 

Sometimes it's called le wels Rare Bit. I have no idea what sort of French that is but they might as well use English and be done with it.

 

It seems to have been around for ages but it's confusing because the tendency to want to use English is increasing, certainly in recipes! As a subscriber, I could email the editor and ask how long le Welsh has been part of the French repertoire. I could also offer my own delicious version of Welsh Cheese on Toast which is perfection on a plate and no soggy bread in sight.

 

Gwyn

 

 

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

44 minutes ago, Dragon said:

As a subscriber, I could email the editor and ask how long le Welsh has been part of the French repertoire.

Good for you.

Tell him Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg are disgusted with their usage, and that unless they change forthwith to le Cymreig, their menu boards are all going to be demolished and/or sprayed green.

[trajan]

20 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

... Tell him Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg are disgusted with their usage, and that unless they change forthwith to le Cymreig, their menu boards are all going to be demolished and/or sprayed green.

 

Green?

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

1 hour ago, trajan said:

 

Green?

Green.

[Dragon]

3 hours ago, trajan said:

 

Green?

 

English-only road signs were painted out with green in protest. Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg is the Welsh Language Society.

[trajan]

OK, with you now... It's just that I would associate green with Ireland instead of Wales, which I always think of as red...

[Dragon]

On ‎24‎/‎04‎/‎2016 at 14:25, John_Hartley said:

 

 And does it have a wartime connection - perhaps, British troops asking for it in estaminets, along with the egg & chips?

 

Resurrecting this topic, I have just found an old Larousse Gastronomique which says that the dish was popular as a hot entrée in "English Taverns" on the continent in the nineteenth century.

[John_Hartley]

Thanks, Gwyn. Pre-dating the war is interesting.