Melba toast "Eighteen Day Reducing Diet" to Ethel Barrymore. It included Melba toast, which made the toast very popular at the time. Melba toast Melba toast is a dry, crisp and thinly sliced toast, often served with soup and salad or topped with either melted cheese or pâté. It is named after Dame Nellie Melba, the stage name of Australian opera singer Helen Porter Mitchell. Its name is thought to date from 1897, when the singer was very ill and it became a staple of her diet. The toast was created for her by chef and fan Auguste Escoffier, who also created
Welsh Rarebit (radio programme) and from June 1941 – when production was taken over by Mai Jones, who was also responsible for such other entertainment shows as "Saturday Starlight" – "Welsh Rarebit" also featured from time to time in the schedules of the BBC Home Service. Although chiefly a variety show, the programme also included such regular features as Eynon Evans playing "Tommy Troubles" and "Dai's Letter to the Forces", a sentimental reflection of life in Wales read by Lyn Joshua. "Welsh Rarebit" featured a host of Welsh entertainers, many of whom became household names; regulars included Wyn Calvin, Maudie Edwards, Eynon Evans, Vera