Welsh rabbit fondue

Serves 4-6

Serve the fondue on a table heater with the chunks of bread separately using long forks or skewers (Jason Lowe)

I was in Mark's Bar in the Brewer Street restaurant recently when I had a "fondue moment". You may remember a column I wrote a few years back in which I said I thought it was due for a comeback. Perhaps I have been proved wrong on that front, but I still live in hope...

30g butter
30g flour
300ml milk
100ml stout or Guinness
2tsp English mustard, plus more if required
1tbsp Worcestershire sauce; more if needed
100ml double cream
70-80g grated cheddar cheese
A good pinch of cayenne pepper
4-5 slices of bread, cut into bite-sized chunks

Melt the butter in a pan, add the flour and stir on a low heat for 20 seconds. Whisk in the milk and stout, bring to the boil, add the mustard, season and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Add the Worcestershire sauce and double cream and simmer for another 5 minutes, add ¾ of the cheese, re-season if necessary and add a little more cheese and mustard if it needs it.

Add the cayenne to season. Toast the bread under the grill, then remove from the heat and scatter the remaining cheese over the bread. Serve the fondue hot, preferably on a table heater, with the chunks of bread separately using long forks or skewers.