Bread, cheese, and fire. That’s all it takes
to create one of the most transcendent sandwiches ever conceived. The humble
grilled cheese is a platonic ideal, the purest essence of “sandwich”,
unencumbered by the distractions of meats, vegetables, and sauces.
With only three ingredients, you get an
astoundingly complex gastronomic experience; a dynamic interplay of flavors and
textures. Hard and soft. Crunchy and yielding. Rough and soothing. The grilled
cheese is at once a perfect finished product as well as a base for infinite
improvisation. All from three simple ingredients.
Oh, and butter. A lot of butter.
Grilled Cheese is the Sandwich Loved ‘Round the World
Grilled cheese sandwich with caramelized apples
Grilled cheese is, of course, the American
version of melted cheese on bread, and as such is a relative newcomer to the
genre. The concept far predates American cuisine, American cheese, and America.
The idea goes back as far as ancient Rome, and
likely farther. Historians have found evidence that Romans combined cheese and
bread, firing it in a simple oven to create the decadent combination of gooey
and crispy we’ve come to love. It wasn’t a sandwich, but they were too busy
enjoying it to care about technicalities.
From there, the practice spread across
Europe along with Roman culture. But the Romans hardly invented the
concept. Cultures around the globe concurrently discovered this most
sublime of sandwiches, and each took their own unique approach.
The Toastie
The Toastie
It somehow follows that England’s version of
the grilled cheese sandwich, their toastie, would be similar to their former
colony’s concoction, but slightly different. It shouldn’t be shocking to learn
that the toastie is toasted instead of grilled. As a result, the butter is
placed inside the sandwich instead of on the outer surfaces of the bread.
Crisps instead of chips. Biscuit instead of
cookies. Driving on the left side of the road instead of the right. Butter
inside instead of out seems right in line with prevailing trends.
Croque Monsieur
Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame
France’s play on melted cheese and bread
features twice the indulgence with gruyere and the addition of ham and creamy
bechamel. Served both as a classic sandwich and open-faced, the Croque Monsieur
proves that you can call a grilled cheese “Mr. Crunchy” and still have it be
taken seriously.
That’s because when it tastes this good, it
doesn’t matter what you call it. Drop an egg on top and enjoy a Croque Madame,
Mr. Crunchy’s spouse.
Welsh Rarebit
Welsh Rarebit
Welsh Rarebit is an extremely old recipe,
going back centuries. It’s an open-faced sandwich made with a unique twist.
Instead of melting cheese on bread, the cheese, classically cheddar, is
prepared as a sauce.
It’s heated with beer, mustard, and
Worcestershire sauce as secondary ingredients. This is then poured over a piece
of toasted bread and then either eaten as is or broiled to give the cheese a
crispy, fired glaze.
What it lacks in ease of preparation it makes
up for with flavor, and it’s a fair trade.
Bauru
Bauru sandwich
The classical preparation of this Brazilian
sandwich is a study in over-complication, but the results are certainly worth
the effort.
You start by melting a load of mozzarella in a
bain-marie, or a double boiler. While the indirect heat is working its magic on
the cheese you slice open and hollow out a crusty french bun, to which you add
roast beef, sliced tomatoes, pickles, salt, and oregano. Once the mozzarella is
ready you fork the molten mass into the bun and enjoy the dumbfounding bliss.
These are just a smattering of nearly infinite
plays on the cheese/bread form. The sandwich’s strength is its simplicity.
Substitute any type of bread and any type of cheese and you have a wholly new
experience. Add extra ingredients to create unique versions that themselves
might become classics of the genre. The only thing you can’t do is remove the
cheese.
But why in all that’s holy would you ever want to do that?
You might also like these cheesy recipes: no-bake Goat Cheese Tart with Tomato Compote and Cheesy Carrot Lavash Rolls.
