Aaaah, the grilled cheese sandwich. It’s gooey, buttery, crisp and comforting in all the right ways. April is National Grilled Cheese Month, a well-deserved recognition for this ultimate comfort food.

Americans consume about 2.3 billion grilled cheese sandwiches annually.

Spanning geographic regions and all ages, grilled cheese sandwiches have been a go-to in U.S. kitchens for decades. Today, Americans consume about 2.3 billion of them annually, according to market research company The NPD’s National Eating Trends. Most are prepared and eaten at home, the same study indicates.

A history lesson

You can equally thank a fellow named Otto, the U.S. Navy and the folks at Kraft Foods for contributions that made the grilled cheese sandwich an all-American comfort food. It all began more than a century ago, notes HowStuffWorks.com.

Today’s notion of the grilled cheese is commonly traced back to the 1920s, when Otto Frederick Rohwedder, considered “the father of sliced bread,” invented a bread slicer that made distributing factory-sliced white bread a grocery store staple. A bit earlier J.L. Kraft & Bros Company (now Kraft Foods) had introduced processed cheese in 1914. When the two got together, it was full steam ahead.

World War II Navy cooks followed a government-issued cookbook to marry bread and cheese and broil it to make an open-face sandwich. In 1950, Kraft Foods debuted individually wrapped Kraft Singles slices, and cooks began putting a second slice of bread on top to create the classic we know and love today.

Recipes for “toasted cheese” began appearing in cookbooks as early as 1929. Grilled cheese didn’t become a popular term until the 1960s.

A sandwich celebration

With inspiration from The Dairy Alliance, an Atlanta-based nonprofit funded by dairy farm families of the Southeast, and other sources, here are some tips for making a grilled cheese sandwich worthy of celebration.

INGREDIENT INTEL

  • Start with great bread. Venture beyond the traditional white bread and try a good sourdough or hand-sliced ciabatta. The trick is to work with slices that are less than half-inch thick.
  • Be choosy about cheese. Yes, those American slices work well, but why not take things up a notch? Try using cheddar, pepper jack, Monterey Jack or colby. Fresh mozzarella, Swiss-style cheese like Gruyere, Gouda or brie are also possibilities. Any of these has the right melting characteristics. For a bit more flavor, pair a melting cheese like mozzarella with a non-melter like Parmesan.
  • Butter up. You need enough butter to achieve the crackly-crisp, buttery, golden exterior that we all crave. Try a twist to the traditional salted butter. Spread a generous amount of flavored butter, accented with herbs or other seasonings, to your bread before it hits the griddle. Alternative: Substitute mayonnaise. Instead of using butter, spread a layer of mayo on every surface of your sandwich. It’ll melt and brown, adding a tangy-sweet flavor, suggests celebrity cook Carla Hall.

TOOL TIME

  • Pick a pan. Use a generous-sized nonstick fry pan that allows plenty of room for flipping your sandwich.
  • Select a spatula. Using a dinky rubber spatula can end in tragedy, suggests Men’s Health columnist Paul Kita. He suggests using a longer fish spatula that can slide under the entire sandwich, making flipping a breeze. Don’t forget to add a bit more butter before accomplishing the flip.

PREP STEPS

  • Go low and slow. To achieve an ideal cheese melt and even browning, cook your sandwich at medium-low heat.
  • Brown bread first. Before adding cheese, cook two slices of bread in butter, then flip them so brown sides are facing up. Now, add your cheese to the browned sides and close the sandwich before you finish browning the outside. This method seals in the butter flavor, which adds to the overall tastiness of the sandwich.
  • Add an upgrade. Elevate your sandwich to gourmet status by complementing the cheese with another ingredient between the slices. Add texture and interest to the sandwich with a slice of fresh tomato, crispy bacon, tart Granny Smith apple, avocado, raisins or strawberries. Jams, jellies and other condiments are also a way to venture out to new, tastier territory. Experiment with Dijon mustard, fig jam, cranberry relish, pepper jelly, strawberry preserves or Buffalo wing sauce. Whatever you add, just be sure it’s less than the amount of cheese.

Now that you’re primed and ready to make the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich, try this recipe for Roast Beef and French Onion Grilled Cheese shared by The Dairy Alliance.