Jane Austen’s Toasted Cheese, Reimagined

Jane Austen may be known for sharp observations on love, marriage and social ambition, but one of our favourite details about her is rather more straightforward: she was fond of toasted cheese.

In a letter to her sister Cassandra, Austen wrote warmly of Edward Bridges’ hospitality, noting that he had gone to the trouble of ordering toasted cheese for supper especially for her. More than two centuries later, remembering someone’s favourite cheese-based supper still strikes us as a very good way to show affection.

We even have a glimpse of what toasted cheese in Austen’s household might have looked like. Martha Lloyd, a close friend of Jane Austen who lived with the Austen women for many years, recorded a recipe in her household book. Her instructions were wonderfully succinct: grated cheese was mixed with egg, mustard and a little butter, before being served on toast.

It sounds familiar, but not quite like the cheese on toast most of us make today. So, in honour of the Jane Austen Festival in Bath, we have taken the spirit of Martha Lloyd’s recipe and given it a Paxton & Whitfield interpretation.

Our Jane Austen-inspired cheese on toast

We have used Paxton & Whitfield Cave Aged Cheddar, whose rich savoury flavour and firm-but-melting texture make it particularly well suited to the job, along with good sourdough and a little mustard.

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 2 generous slices of sourdough
• 100g Paxton & Whitfield Cave Aged Cheddar, grated
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon English mustard
• 10g softened butter
• Freshly ground black pepper, optional

Method

Toast the sourdough lightly on both sides. You want it crisp enough to support the cheese, but not so deeply toasted that it burns during its second visit under the grill.

Mix the grated Cave Aged Cheddar with the egg yolk, mustard and softened butter until everything is evenly combined. Season with a little black pepper if you like.

Spread the cheese mixture generously over the toast, taking it right to the edges.

Place under a hot grill and watch closely. The cheese should melt, bubble and begin to turn golden across the surface. Depending on your feelings about cheese on toast, you may want to stop at the first signs of bubbling or continue until the top develops those deeply browned, almost crisp patches.

Serve immediately.

How toasted is too toasted?

This, we have discovered, is where things become contentious.

The difference between perfectly grilled and completely cremated is highly personal, and everyone seems to have an opinion. We gave our own slices a progressively longer grilling to find out where the Paxton & Whitfield team draws the line. Consider it a good grilling in every sense.

There is a little science behind the result too. When cheese is heated, its fat softens and its network of milk proteins begins to relax, allowing it to flow. Cheeses with the right balance of moisture, fat and acidity tend to melt particularly well, while very dry, highly acidic or very mature cheeses can behave differently. A good mature Cheddar gives you the best of both worlds: plenty of flavour, but enough moisture and fat to melt into a properly satisfying topping.

And if you prefer yours only just melted rather than deeply bronzed? We will allow it. Jane Austen herself left us no instructions on the matter.

Choosing your cheese

Cave Aged Cheddar is our choice here, but the pleasure of cheese on toast is that there is plenty of room to experiment. A nutty Alpine cheese will give a sweeter, more elastic melt, while a washed rind cheese can bring something richer and more aromatic. Blue cheese is excellent crumbled through a milder melting cheese, and a little soft cheese added at the end can make the whole thing gloriously indulgent.

The important part is to choose a cheese you genuinely want to eat, use good bread and keep a very close eye on the grill.

After all, if toasted cheese was good enough to warrant a special supper for Jane Austen, we think it deserves a little attention today too.