Just a short ways from the border, Flemish Lille almost seems more Belgian than French.
In a lot of ways, Lille feels more Belgian than French. Here, you’ll drink beer instead of wine and there’s even a Lillois take on waffles!
In Wales, there is a famous dish called Welsh Rarebit. Created over 300 years ago, Welsh Rarebit is served on toasted bread. But, you’d never be able to pick it up and eat it like a sandwich or bruschetta. That’s because topping the toast is a mass of cheese sauce made with cheddar, beer, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and butter. Hardly hand food.
Now, you may be wondering why a dish with no rabbit is called “Rarebit,” a word that looks and sounds a lot like rabbit.
Well, it seems that the English looked down on the Welsh and called it Welsh Rarebit to make fun of them, saying that only people from Wales would think cheese on toast would be rabbit. A more charitable explanation is that the Welsh really like cheese. Still another explanation is that the Welsh actually named the dish to make fun of themselves.
Legend has it that Welsh Rarebit migrated to France when a Welsh soldier brought it from England during a siege in 1544. Or, it may have been the miners coming from Wales to northern France in the 18th and 19th centuries who popularized the dish.
Whatever the source, Welsh Rarebit, locally called Le Welsh, was embraced in France, especially in Lille. I mean, cheese, beer, bread; that’s right up the gastronomic alley of Lille.
Many restaurants in Lille have Le Welsh on the menu where it is often served with ham and topped with an egg. My favorite place to get Le Welsh is La Petite Table, a cozy little bistro that has a couple versions on the menu including a delicious vegetarian Le Welsh made with mushrooms.
And, it appears the people of Wales approve of the French version. Back in 2016, Wales played Belgium in the quarterfinals of the Euro Cup. In what many fans call the greatest victory in Welsh football (soccer) history, Wales defeated Belgium 3-1 to advance to the semi-finals.
That match was held in the Stade Pierre-Mauroy stadium near Lille. Thousands of fans from Wales descended on the city where they sampled Le Welsh. Many agreed that the version they had in Lille was very good, noting, however, that the cheese was much stronger than they were used to back in Wales. That’s because in Lille, Le Welsh is topped with Maroilles, a cheese known as “old stinker.”