hire cheese (more pungent, snappier, richer,
and more brightly colored than its first cousin, Cheddar)

Heat butter and cream together, then stir in the cheese and let
it stew.

You dunk fingers of toast directly into your individual tin, or
pour the Stewed Rabbit over toast and brown the top under a
blistering salamander.

The salamander is worth modernizing, too, so you can brand your
own Rabbits with your monogram or the design of your own
Rabbitry. Such a branding iron might be square, like the stew
tin, and about the size of a piece of toast

It is notable that there is no beer or ale in this recipe, but not
lamentable, since all aboriginal cheese toasts were washed down in
tossing seas of ale, beer, porter, stout, and 'arf and 'arf.

This creamy Stewed Buck, on which the literary greats of Johnson's
time supped while they smoked their church wardens, received its
highest praise from an American newspaper woman who rhapsodized in
1891: "Then came stewed cheese, on the thin shaving of crisp, golden
toast in hot silver saucers--so hot that the cheese was the substance
of thick cream, the flavor of purple pansies and red raspberries
commingled."

This may seem a bit flowery, but in truth many fine cheeses hold a
trace of the bouquet of the flowers that have enriched the milk.
Alpine blooms and herbs haunt the Gruyere, Parmesan wafts the scent of
Parma violets, the Flower Cheese of England is perfumed with the
petals of rose, violet, marigold and jasmine.

Oven Rabbit (FROM AN OLD RECIPE)

Chop small 1/2 pound of cooking cheese. Put it, with a piece of
butter the size of a walnut, in a little saucepan, and as the
butter melts and the cheese gets warm, mash them together,

When softened add 2 yolks of eggs, 1/2 teacupful of ale, a little
cayenne pepper and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon one way only,
until it is creamy, but do not let it boil, for that would spoil
it. Place some slices of buttered toast on a dish, pour the
Rarebit upon them, and set inside-the oven about 2 minutes before
serving.

Yorkshire Rabbit _(originally called Gherkin Buck,
from a pioneer recipe_)

Put into a saucepan 1/2 pound of cheese, sprinkle with pepper
(black, of course) to taste, pour over 1/2 teacup of ale, and
convert the whole into a smooth, creamy mass, over the fire,
stirring continually, for about 10 min