The Origins and Evolution of Grilled Cheese.

Grilled cheese is one of the most loved sandwiches of all time. While cheese and bread have been eaten together for centuries, the grilled cheese sandwich that we know today is about 100 years ago. Learn the grilled cheese history, its origins, and how it evolved over time.

Grilled Cheese History

Eating bread and cheese together has been around since ancient times with written evidence from cookbooks of the Roman Empire.

Then there’s the French croque monsieur that was first seen on menus in 1910 featuring a pan-fried sandwich filled with ham and cheese.

The history of today’s grilled cheese also dates back to the early 1900s. It was first known as “melted cheese” from a 1902 cookbook. This melted cheese, also known as toasted cheese, was an opened faced sandwich with grated melted cheese on top.

In 1927, the automatic bread slicer was invented that sparked the creations of two-sliced bread closed sandwiches which made them more substantial and satisfying.

Around the same time, processed cheese was created allowing the cheese to easily be transported without spoilage. Cheap bread and cheap cheese made melted cheese a popular food during the Great Depression and World War II.

Then in 1949, another invention further changed the cheese sandwich to how we know it today. The invention of processed single sliced cheese from Kraft. Now the sandwich was even easier and more convenient to make.

By the 1960s, toasted cheese or melted cheese officially became known as grilled cheese. The name and love of the sandwich have since stuck.
 
 

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