Cheese sandwich

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The discussion page may contain suggestions. (October 2009)

A cheese sandwich is a basic sandwich made generally with one or more slices of any kind of cheese on any sort of bread. It may have lettuce, tomato, pickles and/or condiments such as mustard or mayonnaise added.

Adding any sort of meat, however, takes away from the essential "cheesiness" of the sandwich; add ham, for example, and you have a "ham and cheese sandwich" in which the cheese nearly always takes a secondary part.

In Europe, especially, the sandwiches can be easily found in bakeries (sometimes with butter spread onto the bread), and also at snack bars and more casual restaurants.

[edit] Grilled cheese sandwich

It has been suggested that Melt sandwich be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

A grilled cheese sandwich, commonly served with tomato soup.

Tosti ham en kaas, Dutch for a ham and cheese toastie, in an Amsterdam pub.

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, in South Africa it is popularly known as a snackwich 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 It was originally made as an open sandwich, but the top slice of bread became common by the 1960s.^[1] The sandwich can now be found on many menus across the United States.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.

[edit] See also

• Comfort food
• Ham and cheese sandwich
• Croque-monsieur
• Patty melt
• Reuben sandwich
• Tuna melt
• Bruschetta
• Panini (sandwich)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Cheese sandwich

• Food Network Recipes: Grilled Cheese
• The Grilled Cheese Invitational competition
• 9 Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipes to Celebrate National Grilled Cheese Month
• Grilled Cheese Sandwich