Chef John Ash

Who doesn’t love a gooey grilled cheese sandwich.  Simple to make and especially appropriate for cold weather.  This delicacy dates back to ancient Rome, and, according to Food Timeline, was prominently featured in Roman cookbooks.

Fast-forward to the 1920s, when in the midst of the Great Depression, Americans were looking toward economical grocery purchases. Newly released products such as sliced white bread, (enter Wonder Bread) and American processed cheese (enter Kraft singles). Grilled cheese consumption took off.

By the 1940s, grilled cheese connoisseurs had discovered the crispiness that would result from buttering the outsides of the bread before frying the sandwich in a pan. It was then during World War II that mostly white bread and American cheese were used for the sandwiches that became so popular they landed a place in the 1945 U.S. Navy cookbook according to Food Timeline.  Grilled cheese isn’t strictly an American food, but variations of the sandwich exist across cultures, including the toastie in England and the bauru in Brazil.

There are variations too numerous to count today, given the variety of cheeses and breads that can be used. 

Here is my favorite courtesy of my Grandmother.