The best Welsh rarebit recipe that good for the soul & community

Rarebit Fortnight & Cegin y Bobl

How Wales is using its most iconic dish to feed a food revolution

I bet you didn't know we have a Welsh Rarebit Fortnight. And honestly, once you do, it might just become the most feel-good thing on your radar this spring.

Running from 21 February to 7 March — timed perfectly to lead into St David's Day on the 1st Rarebit Fortnight is a Wales-wide celebration of one of the nation's most beloved dishes. But this is about far more than cheese on toast. Every rarebit special ordered at a participating restaurant sends a donation directly to Cegin y Bobl: The People's Kitchen, a Welsh charity quietly transforming lives one cooking lesson at a time.

What is Rarebit Fortnight?

Rarebit Fortnight is the inaugural campaign led by Welsh independent restaurants and cafés, coming together to champion Welsh rarebit in all its glory. From classic recipes to creative chef-led twists — think smoked pollack rarebit tarts, leek and cheese gratins with chorizo crumb, and Welsh onion soup crowned with a rarebit croûte — Wales' finest kitchens are putting the humble rarebit firmly at the centre of the table.

Some of Wales' most celebrated independent venues are taking part, including Asador 44, Milkwood, The Heathcock, Gwaelod y Garth Inn, Hare & Hounds, Hard Lines, The Welsh Cheese Company, The Shed Restaurant, Dexters Steakhouse, Medina, Tides Kitchen & Wine Bar, Felin Fach Griffin, Llys Meddyg Hotel, and many more spanning Cardiff to Pembrokeshire and beyond.

The mechanic is beautifully simple: visit a participating restaurant, order the rarebit special, and know that your meal is doing something genuinely meaningful.

Who are Cegin y Bobl?

Cegin y Bobl means The People's Kitchen in Welsh, and the name says everything about what this charity stands for. Launched in January 2025, Cegin y Bobl is on a mission to transform Wales' relationship with food from the ground up — giving people across Welsh communities the skills, confidence, and knowledge to cook fresh, nutritious food from scratch.

They go into the places where it matters most: schools, community halls, family hubs, and local centres. They work with primary school children who have never cracked an egg, with parents juggling tight budgets and busy lives, with teachers who want to bring food education into their classrooms, and with adults who want to reclaim their relationship with home cooking.

In just over a year of operation, the impact has already been extraordinary. Cegin y Bobl has trained over 1,000 people face-to-face, served over 3,000 meals, and expanded their reach across five Welsh counties. These aren't just cooking lessons , they are acts of community empowerment. When someone learns to cook from scratch, everything shifts: food bills come down, confidence goes up, health improves, and the joy of a home-cooked meal becomes something real rather than out of reach.

This is grassroots, community-led food education at its finest and Rarebit Fortnight is how we all get to be part of it.

They Can't Do It Without Us

Rarebit Fortnight only works if we show up. The restaurants are doing their part ,putting the dish on the menu, dedicating kitchen time, and committing a portion of every sale to the cause. Now it's our turn.

Next time you're at one of the participating venues between 21 Feb and 7 March, grab the rarebit. Snap a photo. Tag @Cegin_y_Bobl and use #RarebitFortnight to spread the word. Every plate counts. Every share reaches someone who hasn't heard about this yet. And the more noise we make, the more dishes get sold, and the more money goes straight to The People's Kitchen.

The Ultimate Welsh Rarebit Recipe

A proper Welsh rarebit, made with the finest Welsh ingredients , the way it deserves to be made.

Ingredients

For the rarebit sauce:

• Snowdonia Black Bomber mature cheddar generously grated (this is the star, don't be shy)

• Gower Brewery beer a good glug, ideally a golden or amber ale

• Halen Môn sea salt , to taste, that pure Anglesey flavour makes all the difference

• Whole grain mustard , a heaped teaspoon, for depth and a little bite

• A dash of Worcestershire sauce , just a dash, but don't skip it

• Radnor Preserve Welsh cider and leek chutney ,a generous spoonful stirred in before grilling

• A knob of butter

• A tablespoon of plain flour

• Black pepper to taste

  
  

For the base:

• A thick wedge of good sourdough or farmhouse bread — toasted first, always

• Smoked streaky bacon from The Farmers Pantry — as many rashers as you like, cooked until properly crispy

Method

1. Start with the bacon. Get your pan hot and lay in the Farmers Pantry rashers. You want proper crispy bacon here , the kind that snaps when you pick it up. Don't rush it. Set aside on a warm plate lined with kitchen paper.

2. Toast your bread first. This is non-negotiable. A thick slice of sourdough under the grill until golden on both sides. The toast needs to be sturdy enough to hold the sauce without going soggy. Set aside.

3. Make the rarebit sauce. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat. Add the flour and stir to form a roux, cooking it out for a minute or so.

4. Pour in the Gower Brewery beer gradually, stirring constantly to keep it smooth. Let it bubble and thicken gently.

5. Add the grated Snowdonia Black Bomber in handfuls, stirring as you go. Let it melt slowly and completely into the sauce.

6. Season with Halen Môn sea salt, a good crack of black pepper, the whole grain mustard, and that dash of Worcestershire sauce. Taste and adjust — it should be rich, tangy, and deeply savoury.

7. Stir in the Radnor Preserve Welsh cider and leek chutney. This is the magic touch — it adds a gentle sweetness, a whisper of apple, and a wonderful depth that lifts the whole sauce.

8. Place your toasted bread on a foil-lined baking tray. Lay the crispy Farmers Pantry bacon over the toast, then spoon and spread the rarebit sauce generously over the top. Don't be stingy.

9. Place under a hot grill and watch it carefully. You want it to bubble, blister, and turn a deep golden brown with charred edges. Two to three minutes, maybe four. The moment it starts to caramelise at the edges, you're there.

10. Remove, let it rest for thirty seconds (if you can wait), and serve immediately. A simple green salad alongside if you want balance. But honestly, it doesn't need anything else.

    

A note on the ingredients

Every ingredient in this recipe has been chosen with intention. Snowdonia Black Bomber is one of Wales' most celebrated cheeses , a mature, bold, wax-wrapped cheddar with serious depth. Halen Môn salt is harvested from the Menai Strait in Anglesey and carries a clean, mineral quality that elevates everything it touches. Gower Brewery produces some of Wales' finest craft beers, and their ales bring a malty warmth to the sauce that generic lager simply cannot. Radnor Preserve's Welsh cider and leek chutney is a stroke of genius in this context, the combination of apple, leek, and gentle spice adds layers of flavour that make this rarebit genuinely special. And The Farmers Pantry bacon? Properly reared, properly smoked, properly crispy. The Welsh larder is extraordinary, and this recipe is a love letter to it.

Rarebit Fortnight runs 21 February – 7 March 2025.

Find participating restaurants and learn more at ceginybobl.co.uk

Tag @Cegin_y_Bobl | #RarebitFortnight | #WelshFood | #CeginYBobl | #EatLocalWales | #DyddGŵylDewi