Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Welsh Rarebit
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cheese base
Melt the butter over boiling water.
Add the beer and heat until smoking hot.
Stir in the cheese until smooth.
Season with celery salt, mustard, and cayenne.
Add the eggs and serve
Beat the egg whites and yolks separately until light, then combine them.
Take some hot cheese mixture and mix it with the eggs to prevent curdling.
Pour the egg mixture back into the cheese, stirring continuously.
Once smooth and creamy, add Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice.
Serve immediately over hot toast.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Lemon + celerytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,805 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Lemon + mustardtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,816 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cheese
- Melts into a smooth, creamy sauce that gives the rarebit its body and flavour.
- Eggs
- Thicken the sauce as they set gently, giving it a rich, creamy texture.
- Ale or beer
- Thins the cheese so it melts smoothly and adds a malty, savoury flavour.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, helping the cheese melt smoothly into the base.
- Worcestershire sauce
- Adds savoury, tangy depth that balances the richness of the cheese.
The step that matters
Adding the eggs to the cheese. Eggs curdle if they get too hot too quickly. Tempering them with some hot cheese mixture first, then stirring constantly over gentle heat, keeps the sauce smooth and creamy.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, egg, beer, butter, sauce, celery, mustard):
- Avocadofits about as well
- Applefits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Grapefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, egg, beer, butter, sauce, celery, mustard. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More welsh rarebit recipes
You might also like
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Cream of Celery Soup113 recipes
Macaroni and Cheese102 recipes
Cheese Making50 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.