‘How can pimped-up cheese on toast be a thing? Where’s the ‘rarebit’ part?’ our British readers may ask, spotting the word ‘welsh’ on the menu of a bistro or estaminet in Lille.
Welsh – northern France's version – bears no comparison to its British big brother, where it takes its name and originates from, and is treated with much more seriousness.
The dish has its own Facebook groups and a Youtuber made a video series tasting 85 of them. A 52-minute documentary featuring A Year In The Merde’s author Stephen Clarke also exists.
Welsher is even a verb, meaning ‘eating a welsh’.
“It is what pizza is for Italian people or the galette sarrazin for Bretons,” said Yannick Hornez, the food critic for La Voix du Nord and author of Grandes recettes des Hauts-de-France, 64 plats de notre enfance.
How to make welsh
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Much like pizza and galette sarrazin, welsh has its staple ingredients.
You need cheddar or cheshire cheese, mustard and a low-hopped beer for cooking.
Mr Hornez melts the 170g of cheese – yes, that is for one person – over a low heat in beer, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and adding more beer as needed.
He then removes from the heat, mixes in mustard and pepper until smooth.
Toast a slice of wholemeal bread and dip it quickly in beer. Place a slice of ham on the bread in a ramekin or deep plate, then cover it with the melted cheese. Grill briefly until golden.
Now, it is up to you to pick up what charcuterie and even cheese – some choose maroilles or camembert – you want in your welsh.
Mr Hornez tops it with a fried egg to make a Welsh complet.
Likewise, there are two schools of thought as to whether you mix mustard within the cheese or spread it on the bread.
“Welsh, French fries and a good beer. Sounds like it goes well together,” said Mr Hornez, preferably everything sourced from Northern France.
Welsh is sometimes served with chipsStephane BDC/Shutterstock
How did the run-of-the-mill welsh ‘rarebit’ become welsh, staple of northern France's gastronomie?
The exact moment of its introduction in France is unknown.
One theory has Welsh soldiers importing it while fighting in Baincthun during the sieges of Boulogne (1544-1546), La Voix du Nord reported. The first written recipes were reported in the late 18th Century by navigator John Byron, Mr Clarke said in the documentary.
It started around Boulogne-sur-Mer, Mr Hornez said, and progressively spread across the Côte d’Opale, a 120km stretch of French coast between the Belgian border and Picardy, and inland.
“Locals cook it at home but I would say it is mostly a bistro dish. something to be eaten outside with friends,” said Mr Hornez.
You will have plenty of choice in Lille. Mr Hornez mentioned the Brasserie André and Au Paon d’or, two brasseries on Place de Béthune that offer welsh. Le Rimbaud, located on Place Cormontaigne, employs cook Adrien Krolik who won a gold medal at the second Concours international du welsh, in 2024.
Several estaminets also offer their own welsh, mainly Chez la Vieille, Au Vieux de la Vieille and La Vieille France. Rob Roi du Welsh, the Youtuber who tasted 85 of them, favours La Brocantine in Cysoing (Nord) or Au Vieux Port in Etaples (Pas-de-Calais).
“Both heavy and delicious,” wrote Le Monde in 1990, lamenting that it could not be found in Paris. 35 years later, welsh made its way there including at the Café de Flore in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and Galibot.
Still sceptical? Ask Julien Poix, a left-affiliated regional councillor of Hauts-de-France and candidate during local elections of 2020, who used welsh to make a jab at the Socialist party back in 2020.
“A good welsh never disappoints. Unlike the Socialist party,” he told Libération.
