Say cheese!
Say it every day for 30 days.
April is National Grilled Cheese Month and, if you believe everything you read on the Internet, April 12 is Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day.
The oozy icon of comfort food is more than a slice of cheese slapped between two pieces of bread.
There are as many ways to slice it as there are stories of who invented it, which may or may not have been the ancient Romans or the French.
No matter. It has been reinvented many times since.
Toasted cheese became a household staple in the U.S. in the 1920s when affordable sliced bread and inexpensive cheese became available. In the ‘60s, the classic white-bread/orange-cheese sandwich emerged with gobs of butter.
People started adding bacon, tomato, bean sprouts … and it was the gateway to inviting members from all food groups to get comfy between the bread.
These days, every bread type and cheese is fair game.
It has even become a sport, with cheese sandwich-eating contests. The record is 13 in less than a minute. Think you can beat it?
A Seattle food truck, The Grilled Cheese Experience, specializes in the sandwiches in some gourmet ways. The “Purple Haze” has triple cream gorgonzola, blackened hangar steak on parmesan-crusted sourdough and blackberry balsamic reduction. The truck comes to The Hop and Hound in Bothell several times a month.
You can also try a sandwich at places recommended by Herald readers in response to a Facebook post, such as the “GCBC,” a cheeseburger housed between two grilled cheese sandwiches for $8.49 at Nick’s Jr. in Everett.
Get creative in the kitchen. No skillet (or skill) is required to get cheesing.
Plug in the panini press or fire up the charcoal grill.
Don’t have one? No problem.
Use a clothes iron, like Johnny Depp did in the 1993 movie, “Benny and Joon.” Before that, “Married with Children” matriarch Peg Bundy demonstrated the steam iron method in her “Pig Out with Peg: Secrets from the Bundy Kitchen” cookbook.
Just make sure to put a protective layer of foil between the iron surface and the sandwich so the grilled cheese look doesn’t carry over to your clothes.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Andrea Brown at 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @reporterbrown.
Cheesy tips
Laura Werlin, author of “Grilled Cheese, Please!,” offers these tips for making a grilled cheese wonder.
Grate the cheese instead of slicing.
Butter the bread, not the pan.
Use a non-stick pan.
To melt the cheese faster and prevent the bread from burning, cover the sandwich for most of the cooking.
Allow the sandwich to sit for 5 minutes to cool to be able to taste all the flavors.
Where to go
Suggestions from Herald readers on their favorite place to get a grilled cheese sandwich.
Strawberry Patch Cafe, 2718 Colby Ave., Everett; 425-339-2257; www.facebook.com/strawberrypatchcafe.
Bleachers Grill, Cedarcrest Golf Course, 6810 84th St. NE, Marysville; 659-3388; www.cedarcrestgc.com.
A Very Taki Tiki Bar &Grill, 518 Main St. Edmonds; Washington; 425-778-3548.
Cascade Valley Hospital, 330 S Stillaguamish Ave, Arlington.
The Cheesemonger’s Table, 203 5th Ave. South, Edmonds; 425-640-8949.
Dashing Dutchman’s Deli, 14957 N. Kelsey St., Monroe; 360-794-4060.
Nick’s Jr, 5821 Evergreen Way, Everett; 425-347-6037; www.nicksjrburgers.com.
Fanny’s Restaurant, 505 Cedar Ave A1, Marysville; 360-653-8164.
Totem Family Dinner, 4410 Rucker Ave., Everett; 425-252-3277.
Karl’s Bakery &Cafe, 2814 Wetmore Ave., Everett; 425-252-1774
Oosterwyk’s Dutch Bakery, 1513 3rd St., Marysville; 360-653-3766.
Gustavs, 617 Highway 2, Leavenworth; 509-548-4509; www.gustavsleavenworth.com.
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