INTRODUCTION
I didn’t come from a family of world travelers, and I wasn’t raised around great food. My only true childhood food memory is of my mother putting a plate on top of thin, crispy grilled cheese sandwiches as they cook. They were delicious, especially the little bits of cheese that oozed out and crisped up on the bottom of the hot pan. But you won’t find that technique anywhere in this book.
My love of food developed first with a love of cooking. I started as a short-order cook while attending the University of California, Berkeley. Caffe Med was an open kitchen, and I enjoyed creating simple, delicious food for the customers who quickly became my friends. I knew immediately I wanted to reach people through food. I never thought I would ascend to being a chef recognized for my culinary talents, but I understood that if I was ever going to make a great sandwich, I had to learn how to make a great steak. As someone who had always taken pride in doing my very best work, I knew I needed to learn more, so I set out to study with some of the finest chefs in the world: David Bouley, Alain Ducasse, Ferran Adrià, Joachim Splichal.
The more I learned, the more I grew as a chef. But I never lost sight of the fact that what I loved about food was my love of people. I wanted to take what I learned as a chef and apply it to something everyone could enjoy. So when I opened The Foundry on Melrose in 2007, I chose to eschew the highfalutin cheese plate found in every upstart fine-dining restaurant at the time in favor of an elevated grilled cheese. I wanted the everyman walking by my restaurant to think, “Hey, I like grilled cheese,” and wander unbeknownst into a new culinary experience. I took a stinky Taleggio and put it between two slices of the raisin-walnut bread common to a cheese plate but so uncommon to a grilled cheese. I blended dried apricots and capers into a puree and added sun-dried tomato as a nod to the dried fruits and pickles typically found on a cheese plate. For good measure, I added some shredded short-rib beef that happened to be lying around the kitchen, and my signature grilled cheese, The Champ, was born.
What follows builds on the spirit of that sandwich. The recipes take what I’ve learned about flavor, technique, and texture while working in Michelin-caliber restaurants and puts that knowledge into a package that everyone can relate to—the grilled cheese. From making your own American cheese, jams, and pickles to braising meats and exploring reworked classic dishes, this book takes the grilled cheese sandwich to another level, while keeping true to what it is at its core—delicious.
This book is not meant to be a bible. The recipes are not meant to be law.
The Great Grilled Cheese Book is instead a point of reference for exploring the many ways this beloved sandwich can be embellished. Each chapter is dedicated to a cheese, so you can easily decide which sandwich to make based on what cheeses are available to you; each recipe makes four sandwiches. In the recipe list at the beginning of each chapter, I’ve also labeled the recipes as Vegetarian (V), Breakfast (B), Meat and Fish (M), and Sweets (S) to help you tailor your sandwich to your mood.
Play with the recipes. Use them as inspiration for your own creations. Most of all, have as much fun making these grilled cheeses as I have had writing this book. I’m hoping you’ll never look at a grilled cheese the same way again.
Copyright © 2018 by Eric Greenspan. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
