Cheese on toast

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Cheese on toast
Cheese on toast-11.jpg
Place of origin United Kingdom
Main ingredientsSliced bread, cheese, sometimes butter

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, and in African countries.

Contents

Recipes

Cheese on toast, made with cheddar cheese Cheese on toast hi res.jpg
Cheese on toast, made with cheddar cheese

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

The 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]

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. [6]

The cheese dream may have originated during the Great Depression, as "an inexpensive company supper dish" [7] [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 $5.97in 2023) luncheonette lenten special in Daytona Beach, Florida's Sunday News Journal. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. James Martin. "BBC recipe by James Martin". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  2. Antony Worrall Thompson. "BBC recipe by Anthony Worrall Thompson". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  3. 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.
  4. "British Cheese Board - Welcome". Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 2009-10-07. British Cheese Board article. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
  5. 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.
  6. "The Official CheeseDreams Network - All things CheeseDreams!". The Official CheeseDreams Network. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 1 2 Marty Meitus Dreaming up variations of grilled cheese Oct 10, 2001 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel p. 29 (Scripps News Service)
  10. "Cheese Dream New Favorite Sandwich". San Jose News . 15 July 1932. Archived from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  11. Eaton, Florence Taft (1918). "Meatless Main Dishes". Good Housekeeping . Vol. 67. p. 52.
  12. "W.T. Grant Co. advertisement". Sunday News Journal . Daytona Beach, FL. 10 March 1957. p. 18.