traditions grew around their use. One tradition, which was still in place at the start of World War II, was that villagers could plant an row of potatoes in a neighbouring farmer's field for each labourer the household could provide at the time of harvest. Welsh dishes Whilst there are many dishes that can be considered Welsh due to their ingredients, there are some which are quintessentially Welsh. Dishes such as cawl, Welsh rarebit, laverbread, Welsh cakes, bara brith (literally "speckled bread") or the Glamorgan sausage have all been regarded as symbols of Welsh food. Cawl, pronounced in a similar way to the English word "cowl", can be regarded as Wales' national dish. Dating back to the 11th century, originally it was a simple broth of meat (most likely bacon) and vegetables, it could be cooked slowly over the course of the day whilst the family was out working the fields. It could be made in stages, over a number of days, first by making a meat stock, then by adding the vegetables on the following day. Once cooked, the fat could be skimmed from the top of the pot, then it would be served as two separate dishes, first as a soup, then as a stew. Leftovers could be topped up with fresh vegetables, sometimes over the course of weeks. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the amount of meat used in the broth was minimal; instead it was bulked out with potatoes. Today, cawl would be much more likely to include beef or lamb for the meat, and may be served with plain oatmeal dumplings or currant dumplings known as trollies. Traditionally cawl would be eaten with a "specially-carved wooden spoon" and eaten from a wooden bowl. The predilection of the Welsh for 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 simple reinterpretation of the word