3 ms·

This author is wrong. You may not add onions, avocado, or any of those other things to a grilled cheese sandwich, at least not if you are trying to make a grill

by bigstrat2003 3mo ago

This author is wrong. You may not add onions, avocado, or any of those other things to a grilled cheese sandwich, at least not if you are trying to make a grilled cheese sandwich. Once you start adding veggies or meat, it becomes a melt. There's nothing wrong with a melt! But words mean things, and you can't just call any sandwich you like a grilled cheese just because the bread is toasted and it has melted cheese inside.

eitally 3mo ago
I disagree, or rather I don't care if I'm wrong but there are likely millions on my side. I'm 49 years old, grew up eating grilled cheese (American cheese on Pepperidge Farms white bread), often with sliced onion or tomato, and mustard. I had never even heard of a melt until I was probably 35, and even so, I still call a doctored up grilled cheese sandwich a grilled cheese sandwich. It ceases to be grilled cheese only if meat is added.
- ssl-3 3mo ago
  Earlier today, I made a grilled cheese sandwich for myself. I started by getting a shitty frozen burrito out of the freezer. I then placed a slice of cheese on top of it and put it into the toaster oven for exactly 27 minutes. After that, I ate this grilled cheese sandwich.
  - tclancy 3mo ago
    I would subscribe to your recipe blog.
strken 3mo ago
We call the entire genre of toasted sandwich a toastie. A grilled cheese would thus be a cheese toastie, the addition of tomato would make it a cheese and tomato toastie, and so on. As a non-grilled-cheese speaker, I don't intuitively understand why you can't have a grilled cheese and tomato. Words do mean things, but why is "cheese and tomato toastie" an allowable variation while "grilled cheese and tomato" is banned? The difference seems arbitrary and capricious!
- ssl-3 3mo ago
  Oh. That's easy enough. It is completely improper to add tomato to a grilled cheese sandwich. It's not that the two things don't fit together; indeed, they do fit together beautifully. But combining them all into one sandwich is absurd. And by absurd, I mean something loosely akin to: Ketchup is good. Fries are good. Steak is good. All of these things can fit together very well in one meal. And while it's OK to put ketchup on fries, it's absurd to soil that meal by putting that same ketchup on a steak. If tomatoes and a grilled cheese sandwich are to be components of the same meal, then that's a wonderful thing indeed. But that is a result which is unilaterally accomplished by including a bowl of tomato soup. As a fundamental part of the natural order, the inclusion of tomato soup is the only right and pure way by which this combination of flavors may be reached. (Dipping is encouraged, though.)
  - strken 3mo ago
    I think you're seeing a compound word because it's part of your native dialect, whereas I'm seeing each word independently. If you think about "grilled", "cheese", and the silent "sandwich" as different words composed together, then it should logically follow that you can use anything you want as a sandwich filling and then grill it. Radical sandwich anarchy!
    - ssl-3 3mo ago
      Sandwiches can contain anything, just like a taco can. Everyone knows that. But when a sandwich contains cheese along with other additional internal ingredients, the act of grilling it is metamorphosical. In this irreversible process, it ceases to be a sandwich and becomes a melt. So while a tomato and cheese sandwich can be an amazing and delicious thing, a grilled tomato and cheese sandwich is impossible. To say that it is any other way would be like saying that a caterpillar and a butterfly are the same thing.
tclancy 3mo ago
This is what I came back for: any post on the Internet about simple food anyone can make will have at least one thread derailing it to explain The One True Way. Put it in the drawer with the anti-pineapple pizza people and the Chicago hot dog truthers. And then ask how people prefer their scrambled eggs. That makes Israel/ Palestine look like a pre-season friendly.

eitally 3mo ago

I disagree, or rather I don't care if I'm wrong but there are likely millions on my side. I'm 49 years old, grew up eating grilled cheese (American cheese on Pepperidge Farms white bread), often with sliced onion or tomato, and mustard. I had never even heard of a melt until I was probably 35, and even so, I still call a doctored up grilled cheese sandwich a grilled cheese sandwich. It ceases to be grilled cheese only if meat is added.

ssl-3 3mo ago
Earlier today, I made a grilled cheese sandwich for myself. I started by getting a shitty frozen burrito out of the freezer. I then placed a slice of cheese on top of it and put it into the toaster oven for exactly 27 minutes. After that, I ate this grilled cheese sandwich.
- tclancy 3mo ago
  I would subscribe to your recipe blog.

strken 3mo ago

We call the entire genre of toasted sandwich a toastie. A grilled cheese would thus be a cheese toastie, the addition of tomato would make it a cheese and tomato toastie, and so on. As a non-grilled-cheese speaker, I don't intuitively understand why you can't have a grilled cheese and tomato. Words do mean things, but why is "cheese and tomato toastie" an allowable variation while "grilled cheese and tomato" is banned? The difference seems arbitrary and capricious!

ssl-3 3mo ago
Oh. That's easy enough. It is completely improper to add tomato to a grilled cheese sandwich. It's not that the two things don't fit together; indeed, they do fit together beautifully. But combining them all into one sandwich is absurd. And by absurd, I mean something loosely akin to: Ketchup is good. Fries are good. Steak is good. All of these things can fit together very well in one meal. And while it's OK to put ketchup on fries, it's absurd to soil that meal by putting that same ketchup on a steak. If tomatoes and a grilled cheese sandwich are to be components of the same meal, then that's a wonderful thing indeed. But that is a result which is unilaterally accomplished by including a bowl of tomato soup. As a fundamental part of the natural order, the inclusion of tomato soup is the only right and pure way by which this combination of flavors may be reached. (Dipping is encouraged, though.)
- strken 3mo ago
  I think you're seeing a compound word because it's part of your native dialect, whereas I'm seeing each word independently. If you think about "grilled", "cheese", and the silent "sandwich" as different words composed together, then it should logically follow that you can use anything you want as a sandwich filling and then grill it. Radical sandwich anarchy!
  - ssl-3 3mo ago
    Sandwiches can contain anything, just like a taco can. Everyone knows that. But when a sandwich contains cheese along with other additional internal ingredients, the act of grilling it is metamorphosical. In this irreversible process, it ceases to be a sandwich and becomes a melt. So while a tomato and cheese sandwich can be an amazing and delicious thing, a grilled tomato and cheese sandwich is impossible. To say that it is any other way would be like saying that a caterpillar and a butterfly are the same thing.

tclancy 3mo ago

This is what I came back for: any post on the Internet about simple food anyone can make will have at least one thread derailing it to explain The One True Way. Put it in the drawer with the anti-pineapple pizza people and the Chicago hot dog truthers. And then ask how people prefer their scrambled eggs. That makes Israel/ Palestine look like a pre-season friendly.