Photographer Jacob Lillis’ St John-Inspired Recipe for Welsh Rarebit

This recipe is taken from Studio Cookbook Volume Three by Hato Press. The book is an examination of the way we – artists, photographers, designers, creators – eat while we are working. 

I used to work in a shop down in Spitalfields, near St John Bread and Wine. I popped in one time  to see my friend Max Rocha, and he introduced me to the head chef at the time, Farokh Talati, and we became friends. I told him I love cooking, and he invited me into the kitchen at St John. 

So I went in, nervously. It was in lockdown and the restaurant was closed. He was in there shooting a cookbook he has since released, called Parsi: From Persia to Bombay. He gave me a hand-written recipe and said, ‘cook this, see how it turns out’. So I cooked this dish, and he was like, ‘yeah, that looks great!’ Then he took it over to the photographer and they shot it for the cookbook.

I loved it so much, cooking Indian food in there. Farokh was like, ‘just come in again and help us out’. So I started going in every week in lockdown. Things were so quiet with my job, and I thought, this is a great way to spend my time! Learning how to cook in my favourite restaurant. I kept ringing them up and asking, ‘can I come in today?’ and they were like ‘yeah, of course!’ 

Soon afterwards they started opening for takeaways and pick-ups on the weekend, so they were cooking their food again – game pies, fish pies, haggis. So there was no pressure of service. I was just in there, helping out however I could. One of the first things they told me showed me was this Welsh rarebit recipe, which is a classic bar snack of theirs. I love it. 

I started cooking it at home as a little snack, and everyone just loves it. I can cook, and I like messing around, but I don’t have a solid, go-to recipe that’s been passed down through the generations. This was my first experience of properly cooking, and I was being taught in a restaurant I love. The guys are just incredible and I wanted to pay homage to them. They’re so cool about food. You can get really caught up in proper ingredients, or what’s what, but they’re like, ‘if you don’t have it, just don’t put it in. Put something else in. It’s always gonna taste good.’ They’re open to the idea of changing every ingredient to something you like. 

So I thought I’d make this a little bit more mine, put a little Yorkshire twist on it. St John uses Guinness in their recipe but I love John Smith’s. You can use Lea & Perrins, or Henderson's Relish in there as well.

I love how St John cookbooks are written. Fergus is brilliant, and the descriptions have a humour and playfulness about them, you can read them like a novel. See points five and six below for their instructions.

John Smith’s Welsh Rarebit

INGREDIENTS

A knob of butter

1 tablespoon plain flour

1 teaspoon English mustard powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Lots of splashes of Worcestershire sauce, or about 45ml of Hendersons Relish for an extra Yorkshire kick

200ml John Smith’s

450g mature strong cheddar cheese, grated

6 slices of white bread

METHOD

1. Melt the butter in the pan and stir in the flour. Cook until toasty and biscuity.
2. Add in the mustard powder and cayenne for a moment, then add Worcestershire sauce and John Smith’s. Mix with a whisk immediately, making sure it doesn’t catch, to break any lumps. Cook the roux until mixed and slightly thick and silky.
3. Gently stir in the grated cheese in handfuls and melt to a smooth consistency.
4. Pour into a shallow container and allow to cool and set.
5. Then, as described in the St. John cookbook: “Take each piece of bread and toast on both sides. Allow to cool just a little, then cover one side with the rarebit mixture to about 1cm thick – if you find that it doesn’t spread with ease, press it on with your fingers. Put on a baking sheet and place under the grill until golden and bubbling – grilling to just beyond your comfort threshold, to allow the flour to cook out.
6. “When it comes to eating, irrigation channels are essential: make a gentle criss-cross pattern on your hot rarebit with a knife, creating the perfect floodplain for the Worcestershire sauce.”

Serves: about 6, depending on the bread.

Studio Cookbook Volume Three is published by Hato Press, and is out now.