The Welsh Rarebit we make today probably has little in common with the original dish, first called Welsh Rabbit, that was conceived in the first half of the 18th century among Wales' peasantry. Even some of its components are undeniably English.

Welsh Rarebit actually was once called Welsh Rabbit. If you follow the lore of the dish you will find that once upon a time, in the early 18th century, Welsh peasants were supposedly somewhat peeved that they could not afford to eat the rabbits that their masters and mistresses enjoyed at their groaning dinner tables. So they made do with what they had, and made a nice cheesy sauce with a good dose of flavour, and called it their own kind of Welsh Rabbit. Maybe it's apocryphal but it's a good story and there aren't many 18th century Welshmen around to contradict me.

The origins of the term "Welsh Rabbit" have been traced to 1725 and the same dish, but called "Welsh rarebit", only appears in 1785, with Britannica.com observing that there is no known use of the word "rarebit" outside of this dish, then or now.

It is generally described as toasted bread with a cheese sauce on...