Elisabeth Ayrton

Gloucester Cheese and Ale

Preparation info

  • Difficulty

    Easy

  • For

    4

Appears in

The Cookery of England

The Cookery of England

By Elisabeth Ayrton

Published 1975

This recipe goes back to the Middle Ages: the dish was sometimes served like this to travellers arriving at Gloucestershire or Oxfordshire inns when the meat and birds were finished. It was originally, of course, a farmerā€™s winter supper dish, but at least one Cotswold manor house still makes it, though cut in neater and smaller portions than those served by earlier farmersā€™ and innkeepersā€™ wives, and made at table in a chafing dish.

Ingredients

  • Ā½ lb. (240 g.) coarsely grated Gloucester cheese
  • 2 teaspoons made mustard
  • 1 pint (6 dl.) brown ale, less 3 tablespoons saved and heated separately
  • 4 large slices of rather thick fresh hot brown toast with crusts removed

Method

Put the cheese in a flat fireproof dish or skillet. Daub and spread the mustard over it and then pour on the ale. Stir it over low heat until it is all amalgamated and bubbling. Put the toasts on plates and spread the cheese mixture on them, allowing it to run over. Spoon a little of the hot ale on each piece and serve immediately, very hot.

Ā©1975 The Estate of Elizabeth Ayrton

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