touch:  Crumbly—­a caress to the fingers.

taste:  The quintessence of this fivefold test.  Just cuddle a crumb with your tongue and if it tickles the taste buds it’s prime.  When it melts in your mouth, that’s proof it will melt in the pan.

Beyond all this (and in spite of the school that plumps for the No. 2 temperance alternative) we must point out that beer has a special affinity for Cheddar.  The French have clearly established this in their names for Welsh Rabbit, Fromage Fondue a la Biere and Fondue a l’Anglaise.

To prepare such a cheese for the pan, each Rabbit hound may have a preference all his own, for here the question comes up of how it melts best.  Do you shave, slice, dice, shred, mince, chop, cut, scrape or crumble it in the fingers?  This will vary according to one’s temperament and the condition of the cheese.  Generally, for best results it is coarsely grated.  When it comes to making all this into a rare bit of Rabbit there is: 

The One and Only Method

Use a double boiler, or preferably a chafing dish, avoiding aluminum and other soft metals.  Heat the upper pan by simmering water in the lower one, but don’t let the water boil up or touch the top pan.

Most, but not all, Rabbits are begun by heating a bit of butter or margarine in the pan in which one cup of roughly grated cheese, usually sharp Cheddar, is melted and mixed with one-half cup of liquid, added gradually. (The butter isn’t necessary for a cheese that should melt by itself.)

The two principal ingredients are melted smoothly together and kept from curdling by stirring steadily in one direction only, over an even heat.  The spoon used should be of hard wood, sterling silver or porcelain.  Never use tin, aluminum or soft metal—­the taste may come off to taint the job.

Be sure the liquid is at room temperature, or warmer, and add it gradually, without interrupting the stirring.  Do not let it come to the bubbling point, and never let it boil.

Add seasonings only when the cheese is melted, which will take two or three minutes.  Then continue to stir in the same direction without an instant’s letup, for maybe ten minutes or more, until the Rabbit is smooth.  The consistency and velvety smoothness depend a good deal on whether or not an egg, or a beaten yolk, is added.

The hotter the Rabbit is served, the better.  You can sizzle the top with a salamander or other branding iron, but in any case set it forth as nearly sizzling as possible, on toast hellishly hot, whether it’s browned or buttered on one side or both.

Give a thought to the sad case of the “little dog whose name was Rover, and when he was dead he was dead all over.”  Something very similar happens with a Rabbit that’s allowed to cool down—­when it’s cold it’s cold all over, and you can’t resuscitate it by heating.