Grilled Cheese Challenge
An event not to be missed
The Cheese and Dairy Products Show is launching the 2nd edition of the Grilled Cheese Challenge, an international, creative and exciting competition dedicated to the ultimate comfort food icon: grilled cheese.
Inspired by the global success of this legendary melted cheese sandwich, the Grilled! competition transforms a simple pleasure into a spectacular contest, where cheese is king and boldness is rewarded.
The event will be hosted by Mathieu Guérineau, a renowned presenter (Air Guitar France and Cheese Tasting Tour) and a key figure in culinary events. The competition was co-created with François Robin, Cheesemonger, One of the Best Craftsman of France 2011, who also founded the Cheese Tasting Tour.
The idea for this challenge came to him during his travels through the world capitals, where grilled cheese is becoming a global trend.
Our partners
As official partners of the Grilled Cheese Challenge, Gruyère PDO and Switzerland Cheese Marketing are joining forces with the competition to celebrate Swiss cheese excellence.
A delicious and committed partnership that will showcase Swiss cheeses throughout the competition, right up to the grand final, which will be enhanced by Gruyère PDO.
What it the story of the Grilled Cheese?
Croque-monsieur, toastie, grilled cheese sandwich... whatever you call it, the result is the same: melted cheese between two slices of bread, a simple, comforting treat that has won over taste buds all over the world.
If we take a quick look at the grilled cheese sandwich, the trendiest name in recent times, we can attribute its creation to several countries. Let's leave aside France, which has had the unfortunate habit since the 19th century of adding ham to cheese to make a croque-monsieur, certainly a staple of family food that has inspired Proust's Madeline for generations but not solely focused on cheese.
Let's bet that the English toastie is the one that started it all, even if it is not only filled with cheddar and cooked in a special machine, as in France, finding its place at breakfast or as street food on the go.
An ocean away, and thanks to thousands of academic studies, we can trace the birth of a hot sandwich filled only with a mixture of melted cheeses to the United States in the 1920s, which quickly took the name Grilled Cheese Sandwich. An affordable dish with the development of industrial dairies and bakeries, comforting, quickly eaten with a bowl of tomato soup, easy to make, these are all assets that have allowed it to survive a century and several crises, including the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Second World War, when it was served to GIs.
The historical difference between the European versions and the New World version is certainly the use of a generously buttered frying pan to grill the sandwich and a mixture of several cheeses, often pasteurised (Cheddar, Monterey Jack, etc.), or even ‘processed cheeses’, equivalent to our processed cheeses.
Since then, grilled cheese sandwiches have been found all over the world, particularly in countries with large Anglo-Saxon populations. It is almost inconceivable for a retail dairy and cheese shop in Australia not to offer them at lunchtime, every trendy bar makes a more or less elaborate version, and there are even guides to the ‘best places to eat them province by province’. Clarified butter reigns supreme, adding even more indulgence, and the stringy cheese dripping between the two halves of the sandwich is celebrated on all social media platforms.
And the world has embraced the phenomenon, following in the footsteps of the ‘digital nomad’ generation, which is importing its consumption habits into major international hubs (Singapore, Dubai, Bali, Shanghai, etc.) and even back to its roots, with several dedicated establishments in Paris.
