Welsh Rarebit à la Française
The French reading of British rarebit: melted cheese, beer, and Dijon emulsified into a smooth pourable sauce, poured over toast and blistered under the broiler. Eaten hot, with a knife and fork.
Tartine
Tartine Parisienne
A half-baguette split open, buttered to the edge, draped with folded jambon de Paris and eaten with a fork: the tartine parisienne is the jambon-beurre with its lid taken off, all of it on show.
Tartine Nutella
One open slice, a brown layer thick enough to hold the knife's drag-marks, no butter under it because the spread carries its own fat. The lazy default of the four o'clock gouter, eaten fast.
Tartine Gratinée
An open slice of country bread heaped with melting cheese and run under a broiler until the top blisters and lacquers. The single slice is a plate for the flame, best in the minute it lands.
Tartine Chocolat
A torn length of baguette with a bar of dark chocolate pushed into the crumb: the tartine chocolat is the original pain au chocolat, the four o'clock goûter the pastry later took its name from.
Tartine au Fromage
A slice of country bread under cool cheese, the cheese course handed a piece of bread: spread a fresh goat's round to the edges or lay an aged wedge in slabs, eaten at the apéro hour, never melted.