Grilled cheese. You loved these toasty, gooey cheese bombs as a kid and, if we’re being honest, you still melt over them. Get ready to rekindle an old flame, because grilled cheese has grown up. Upscale and unexpected ingredients are popping up at restaurants, food trucks and stand-alone grilled cheese shops.
“Chefs and operators have been answering the demands for bigger and bolder flavors—which include more boldly flavored and creative grilled cheese,” says Gordon Food Service Corporate Consulting Chef Gerry Ludwig, CEC.
Today’s varieties of flavorful cheeses make it easy to customize their own offerings. Adding ingredients such as wine braised leeks or shaved Brussels sprouts adds a new flavor dimension to a classic sandwich.
Not Your Mom’s Grilled Cheese
The grilled cheese basics endure—cheese, butter, bread. But creative spinoffs offer satisfying flavor and variety.
- Change up the cheese. Replace American with fontina, Comté, Bel Paese, raclette, or pimiento-cheese spread
- Add cheese to the outside. Shred Parmesan or Romano on top for added flavor.
- Spice things up. Create signature, plus-one condiments. Go global with chutney, sriracha or salsa. Enhance flavor with fruit jam, onion marmalade, relish, vinaigrettes, or truffle oil
- Break away from ordinary bread. Use artisan bread, Dutch crunch roll, Bianca bread, ciabatta, challah, Texas toast, buttermilk biscuits, waffles, foccacia, baguette, or tortillas.
However you craft these sandwiches, offer customers a shot at revisiting the familiar comforting experience of childhood, but with a flavorful and memorable twist. And what goes better with grilled cheese than soup. For an interesting twist, prepare your grilled cheese and use a pastry cutter to make small circles in the sandwich. Then use as a crouton topper for soups or salads.
Ask your Gordon Food Service Sales Representative how you can implement grilled cheese possibilities.
