You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, at no cost, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!
^A grilled cheese sandwich is a cheese sandwich that's been heated until the bread crisps and the cheese melts, sometimes combined with an additional ingredient such as peppers, tomatoes or onions. The bread is usually buttered before cooking.
A variety of different names denote the same sandwich, such as cheese toastie or toasted cheese sandwich; in the UK and New Zealand it goes by toastie, in Australia it is possibly, in some areas, called a cheese jaffle, and in the Netherlands it is called a tosti.
[edit] History
The grilled cheese sandwich began in the 1920s in the U.S. with the widespread availability of sliced bread and processed cheese. It was originally made as an open sandwich, but the top slice of bread became common by the 1960s.[1] The sandwich can now be found on many menus across the United States.
At the Grilled Cheese Invitational cook-off (held annually in Los Angeles), contestants attempt to cook the best grilled cheese sandwich in various categories. The 2008 winner of the Grilled Cheese Invitational "Spaz Trophy" (awarded for overall "weirdness") was the "Cake and Mivens" a dessert grilled cheese sandwich that featured the peeps confectionery.
On November 23, 2004, a grilled cheese sandwich containing a supposed likeness of the Virgin Mary was sold at auction for $28,000.[2]
[edit] Preparation
A grilled cheese sandwich can be made in a variety of ways, depending on the region and personal preference.
Common methods include being cooked on a griddle, grilled, pan frying, broiled, or made in a panini grill or sandwich toaster. (This method is more common in the United Kingdom where the sandwiches are sometimes called "toasties.")
When making grilled cheese on an open griddle or pan, one side is cooked first, then the sandwich is flipped and cooked on the other side.[3] The sandwich is finished when both sides are toasted and the cheese has melted. Butter or oil may first be smeared on either the bread or the cooking surface.
Another technique is to toast or grill each half of the sandwich separately, then combine them.
The ham and cheese sandwich is a common type of sandwich. It is made by putting cheese and sliced ham between two slices of bread.[1] The bread is sometimes buttered and toasted. Vegetables like lettuce, tomato, onion or pickle slices can also be included. Various kinds of mustard or/and mayonnaise are also common.
Sliced bread, pre-sliced cheese, and pre-sliced cooked ham are very readily available in Western supermarkets and as a result ham and cheese sandwiches are extremely quick and easy to prepare. They are a common component of a brown bag lunch.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Variants
* 2 History
* 3 Origins
* 4 See also
* 5 Notes
[edit] Variants
An unusual variant: a fried ham and cheese sandwich (served with potato chips)
Typical styles of cheese used in this sandwich are American (yellow or white), Cheddar (yellow or white), Swiss, or other medium-firm cheeses.
Ham and cheese sandwiches are ubiquitous in western culture. They are among the items one would expect to see offered in any situation involving a choice of a two or three kinds of sandwich: refrigerated vending machines that dispense prepared sandwiches, lunch trucks, airport food counters, etc. They are frequently included among assortments of sandwiches ordered, e.g. for a working lunch in a business conference room.
A variant sometimes served in cafes is the "grilled" ham and cheese sandwich. Both sides of the bread slices are coated in butter, and then the sandwich is assembled. The sandwich is then fried (rarely actually grilled) in a sauté pan, occasionally turning the sandwich over, until both sides are a golden-brown.
Alternatively, toasted ham and cheese sandwiches can be made using a sandwich toaster. Known as a 'Toastie' in the United Kingdom, ham and cheese is the most popular filling after cheese on its own.
Similar to this sandwich is the ham-and-cheese quesadilla, which uses a tortilla instead of bread. The Monte Cristo sandwich is a ham and cheese sandwich that is made with Swiss cheese and then battered in eggs and fried. Similarly, the Croque Monsieur is a French version of the Monte Cristo, with any sort of cheese.
A version of this sandwich in Spain replaces the ham with sobrassada, a cured sausage from the Balearic Islands that can be easily spread.
[edit] History
In some American homes, ham and cheese sandwiches are a common element of hastily prepared, impromptu home meals. Thus, in a detective novel we read:
Bosch went into the the kitchen and got a beer out and made a ham and cheese sandwich. He stood by the sink eating and drinking and trying to organize things about the case in his head.[2]
As recalled by ballpark concessionaire Harry Stevens in a 1924 interview, in 1894 ham and cheese sandwiches were the only food items sold in New York baseball parks, frankfurters not being introduced until fifteen years later.[3]
An Englishwoman, writing in 1923 of her passage through Ellis Island on a trip to the U.S., noted:
I was in fear and trembling, having heard so many tales of the abuse aliens receive there.... The attendants were very kind and not at all rough with us. It was the noon hour... in a little while porters came along with baskets of very good ham and cheese sandwiches and coffee for the grown-ups and milk for the babies.[4]
Richard E. Byrd took ham and cheese sandwiches on his 1926 polar flight as did 1927 transatlantic fliers Chamberlin and Levine.[5]
[edit] Origins
The origin of the ham and cheese sandwich has been debated for a number of years by culinary intellectuals. The leading theory as to who first started to produce a ham, cheese and bread dish is mentioned in The Larousse Gastronomique 1961. Here it notes that an 18th century Irish immigrant to England called Patrick Connolly who sold a bread dish which:
"Combined the remains of pig, cured and sliced with a topping of Leicester cheese and a kiss of egg yolk sauce (a form of mayonnaise)in a round bread roll. The dish was rather unimaginatively known as a Connolly and is still sometimes referred to as this in some parts of the midlands in the UK."
This forum is owned and operated by Internet Brands, Inc., a Delaware corporation. It is not authorized or endorsed by the Ford Motor Company and is not affiliated with the Ford Motor Company or its related companies in any way. Ford® is a registered trademark of the Ford Motor Company
I loues my kriS ~ Zanador
- HRnB
