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iN The oNioN Bag
The football season is here and there’s no better exc<strong>us</strong>e for cooking up some good
savoury dishes for players and pundits alike, says Bill Collison.
There are some sad things about leaving the
summer behind – the longer days, the easy in-andout
way of living and eating and the sunshine. And
there are some good things. And one of them is
football.
Playing it, watching it, reading about it, listening
to pundits disc<strong>us</strong>sing it, football – for many – is a
highlight of the Autumn. Indeed, there are those
who barely register the passing of summer, so
wrapped up are they in league tables and transfers.
It goes without saying that these people are
predominantly men.
This year there is an added reason for <strong>us</strong> Lewesians
to get out our vuvuzelas, since the Rooks is <strong>now</strong>
a community-owned team and it really needs our
support. You too can become part of the roar
that sweeps across the town on a grey Saturday
afternoon! Forget the fat cat Premier League stuff
– this is where it’s at. And, as we can all become
shareholders from the end of this season, we need
to get down there to check out the talent.
If you are a football fan (or about to become one),
Saturday afternoons have a particular resonance
and whether you’re playing or watching, some
gathering together of friends is likely to feature
and if it’s all round to your ho<strong>us</strong>e, you’ll need some
Saturday afternoon/evening staples that extend
beyond a crate of beer.
On the whole, or in fact without question, these
should be of the big-savoury-hit variety, partly to
soak up the beer and partly, beca<strong>us</strong>e if you’ve been
running around on a pitch for an hour or so, you’ll
be needing it.
Homemade burgers stuffed into a bun are good,
served alongside a tray of golden oven chips made
from roughly chopped potatoes, skins on, tossed in
some olive oil and sea salt and cooked in a hottish
oven for about an hour.
w w w. V I VA l E w E s . C o M
F o o D
Pizza is also good, as are sa<strong>us</strong>ages, oven-baked and
served inside some toasted sourdough or with a
helping of creamy mash.
This is good too: Buck Rabbit. Apparently, the
word rarebit is a misunderstanding and it’s not that
rarebit was wrongly called rabbit, but the other
way round. No matter, it’s a good and tasty dish,
whatever the spelling: cheese, beer, m<strong>us</strong>tard and an
egg, poached or fried, to finish and here with the
addition of some leeks. A properly Welsh Welsh
Rabbit!
Bill’s Leek and Cheddar Buck Rarebit
For 4: 1 leek, 100g butter, 1 tbsp flour, 75ml ale. 75ml
milk, 1tsp English m<strong>us</strong>tard powder, 150g Cheddar
cheese, grated, large knob butter, 1 tbsp Tabasco
Sauce, 8 slices good bread, 4 eggs, optional
Wash the leek, dice it into 1cm pieces. Melt half
the butter in a pan and fry the leeks till they’re soft.
They can be beginning to colour, but don’t let them
burn. Add the flour and the rest of the butter and,
stirring constantly, gradually add the beer and the
milk, bringing it to a gentle simmer. Add the m<strong>us</strong>tard
and roughly 100g of the cheese. Keep stirring until
you have a smooth and thickened sauce. Grind a good
amount of fresh black pepper in and turn off the heat
to let it all sit.
Toast the bread, spread each slice with the cheese
mixture and slide under a hot grill until the slices are
golden and bubbling. Meanwhile, assuming there is
more than one cook in the kitchen, somebody else
should be either frying or poaching eggs, ready to
put them on top as the slices emerge from the grill.
Finish with the rest of the cheese, a good grinding of
fresh black pepper and a shake of Tabasco.
You can add to this with ham, grilled m<strong>us</strong>hrooms or
flaked mackerel. If you do, the extra ingredients go on
to the toasted bread before the cheese mixture.
Photograph by Katie Moorman
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