Welsh cuisine roasted cheese led to the dish of Welsh rarebit, or Welsh rabbit, seasoned melted cheese poured over toasted bread. The cheese would need to be a harder one, such as cheddar or similar. Referred to as Welsh rabbit as early as 1725, the name is not similar to the Welsh term "caws pobi". Welsh folk rarely ate rabbit due to the cost and as land owners would not allow rabbit hunting, so the term is more likely a slur on the Welsh. The name evolved from rabbit to rarebit, possibly to remove the slur from Welsh cuisine or due to
The Rabbit (Manet 1881) art firm, Bernheim-Jeune. In 1917 "The Rabbit" was purchased from Bernheim-Jeune by the Welsh philanthrapist Gwendoline Davies, who in 1918 exhibited it at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath. On Gwendoline's death in 1951, she bequeathed her collection of Impressionist works to the National Museum of Wales, among them "The Rabbit". As of 2012 it is on view at the National Museum Cardiff in gallery 11. "The Rabbit" is painted in a bold and loose style, and is intended to be viewed from a distance. This is in stark contrast to an earlier work by Manet also entitled the "Rabbit"