Welsh Rarebit Week - Part 4 of 6 - Sue Marchant

Into the fray plunges Sue Marchant, a lovely young lady who can be found on the air with BBC Radio Norfolk in the evenings….

Sue isn‘t a chef. This recipe is not written down. Anywhere. It just so happens that after Scrambled Egg Week I was wondering what the next taste test would be, and Miss Marchant suggested cheese on toast (a very sensible suggestion from a vegetarian). She also sent me her own method for producing “cheese on toast” and it worked rather well!

There is no online version of this recipe, but you can tune in to Sue’s radio show between 7 and 10, weekdays, here :http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/

So to the all important verdict…..

Taste - 4.5

This recipe required mozzarella instead of the ubiquitous cheddar. I have rarely used this cheese so it was something of an adventure, as was the use of tomato and basil in this Welsh Rarebit experiment. The end result was bleeding lovely, a really fresh flavour, with added “stringiness” which is all part of the cheese on toast experience as far as I’m concerned. Bootiful.

Presentation - 4.5

For such an easy recipe the end result looks rather splendid, and would fool you into thinking that lots and lots of work had gone into making it. The mozzarella is much lighter in colour than the cheddar, and this not only makes the crispy pieces stand out more, it also makes the added tomato and basil look fantastic.

Ease/Effort - 4

A very simple version of this classic food, with an amazing end product. Sue’s recipe was only three lines in length yet gave us a real taste explosion. Fantastic effort. The only small drawback was the instruction to toast the bread on just one side - and then not tell us which side the cheese goes on. It’s a small point, and I split the difference, flipping one slice of toast and adding the cheese to one untoasted slice and one toasted. The taste was very similar, but I slightly preferred the “toasted side down” version. I wonder which is the right one?

Scores On The Doors:

Sue Marchant - 13

The Foody - 11.5

Country Life Dot Com - 9

James Martin - 5

Running Order:

Day Five - Delia Smith.

Day Six - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.