Cheese on toast is made by placing sliced or grated cheese on toasted bread and melting it under a grill. It is popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, United States, and in African countries.
 | |
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Main ingredients | Sliced bread, cheese, sometimes butter |
Recipes
edit
Cheese on toast consists of toast (toasted on both sides or just one side), with cheese placed on it and then grilled. Further toppings are optional; the most basic being chopped onions (raw or grilled with the cheese), brown sauce or ketchup. Pickled cucumber, Branston pickle, fried tomatoes, fried eggs, Worcestershire sauce and baked beans are also common.[1][2]
Recipe books and internet articles tend to elaborate on the basics, adding ingredients and specifying accompaniments to make more interesting reading. Consequently, published recipes seldom deal with the most basic form of the dish and frequently refer to the similar dish of Welsh rarebit as "posh cheese on toast".[3]
Cheddar cheese is most commonly used for cheese on toast, as it is a particularly good cheese for toasting.[citation needed] Lancashire dairies, in conjunction with a "National Cheese Toast Day", have promoted Lancashire cheese as the best cheese to use.[4]
Cheese dream
editThe cheese dream is an open-faced version of the American grilled cheese sandwich made with bread and cheese; it is cooked with either oil, margarine, or butter. Other ingredients such as bacon, avocado, pineapple, eggs, or sliced tomato can be optionally added to the open-faced sandwich as well.[5]James Beard wrote about cheese dreams in his book “James Beard’s Simple Foods”, describing the sandwich as "a slice of tomato on bread, covered with American cheese which was melted under the broiler and then graced with crisp bacon".[6]
It can be cooked in a pan or skillet on the stove top, under a broiler or using a pan in the oven. In its simplest form, it consists of a slice of bread, topped with American cheese, and broiled until the cheese puffs up and browns.[7]
The cheese dream may have originated during the Great Depression, as "an inexpensive company supper dish"[5][8] and an inexpensive option for feeding friends and family at Sunday supper.[9] Additions of sliced tomatoes, ham and bacon could be used, and they were often accompanied by olives and pickles.[9] A 1932 San Jose News story, "Cheese Dream New Favorite Sandwich," suggested sprinkling the cheese "very sparingly" with a bit of mustard, cayenne "and a little minced red sweet pepper"; the sandwich was browned on both sides and served with "very hot, rich tomato sauce."[10] The sandwiches may predate the Depression, however, as a 1918 Good Housekeeping issue mentions Cheese Dreams as a luncheon dish, "our teahouse friend."[11]
Cheese dreams were advertised in 1957 as a 55-cent (equivalent to $5.97 in 2023) luncheonette lenten special in Daytona Beach, Florida's Sunday News Journal.[12]
The term Cheese Dream has also been used to describe grilled cheese sandwiches, and, in one instance, to Croque monsieur.[13][14][15][16]
See also
edit- Grilled cheese, a hot cheese sandwich in the United States
- Cheese dream
- Cheese sandwich
- Open sandwich
- Cafe (British)
- Beans on toast, another simple dish made with slices of bread and a topping
- Croque monsieur, the French hot ham and cheese sandwich
- List of toast dishes
- Uunijuusto, a Finnish speciality based on bovine colostrum
- Welsh rarebit, the cheese sauce based dish
- Hot Brown
- Pizza Toast, Japanese milk bread topped with pizza toppings including cheese, then baked
- List of bread dishes
References
edit- ^ James Martin. "BBC recipe by James Martin". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
- ^ Antony Worrall Thompson. "BBC recipe by Anthony Worrall Thompson". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
- ^ Lesley Waters. "BBC recipe by Lesley Waters: cheese sauce on toast". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
- ^ "British Cheese Board - Welcome". Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 2009-10-07. British Cheese Board article. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
- ^ a b Uebelherr, Jan (26 March 2004). "There's no secret to great grilled cheese". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
- ^ "I Dream Of Cheeses | Sandwich Tribunal". www.sandwichtribunal.com. 24 September 2020.
- ^ "The Official CheeseDreams Network - All things CheeseDreams!". The Official CheeseDreams Network. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
- ^ Meitus, Marty (3 January 1999). "OLD FAITHFUL GRILLED CHEESE, A DEPRESSION-ERA STANDBY, HAS RETURNED". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
During the Depression, when Sunday Night Suppers became a popular way to entertain, the cheese dream began to appear on dining tables from coast to coast.
- ^ a b Marty Meitus Dreaming up variations of grilled cheese Oct 10, 2001 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel p. 29 (Scripps News Service)
- ^ "Cheese Dream New Favorite Sandwich". San Jose News. 15 July 1932. Archived from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- ^ Eaton, Florence Taft (1918). "Meatless Main Dishes". Good Housekeeping. Vol. 67. p. 52.
- ^ "W.T. Grant Co. advertisement". Sunday News Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. 10 March 1957. p. 18.
- ^ Humanities, National Endowment for the (23 August 1908). "The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, August 23, 1908, Image 13". p. 13 – via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
- ^ Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing Dish Recipes. D. McKay. 1916.
- ^ Scothorn, James. "Cheese Dreams". North Coast Journal.
- ^ "The Food Timeline: history notes--sandwiches". www.foodtimeline.org.