The following includes the tedious steps to making the perfect grilled cheese sandwich:
First, find some bread. Sequestered in the store near sweet treats and flowers, numerous choices await. From modest multigrain to heartfelt whole wheat, the options are endless. Or, should a less popular alternative interest you, potato bread is always there. Your bread will most likely come as a whole loaf, but some circumstances arise where it is dented or missing a slice because humans are careless. If you can look past those flaws, take it anyway. Every loaf of bread, partial or not, deserves to be brought home.
Second, walk a few hundred feet down to the dairy department. Choose a cheese. Gaudy gruyere, sassy sharp cheddar, or a humble havarti work wonderfully. Some people have even made glorious grilled cheese sandwiches with the help of unconventional blue cheese.
Please note: this sandwich can’t be made without the cheese. Cheese is in the name for a reason. Every successful grilled cheese was made because there was cheese to keep it together, keep it flavorful, and keep it satisfying.
Third, gather tools from the kitchen. Spatulas, pans, knives. Gather them up from the gorge-like drawer—the drawer filled with silverware and tin tongs—and let them help when the sandwich demands to be made. If the sandwich is being difficult during the next step, these tools will help. Trust me. Do not forget the tools.
Finally, cook the sandwich. This is my personal favorite step. Cooking takes time and care, but if done correctly, it creates a beautifully golden sandwich. The proud panini press or coveted cast iron are my top choices for cooking, but the never-failing nonstick will be just as sufficient. Make sure to not burn the sandwich; it only needs a few minutes on each side to be complete.
Now, imagine. Imagine every grilled cheese replaced with a relationship. Imagine every bread replaced with a person. Envision every cheese replaced with a wingman. Imagine every spatula called a word, every pan called a sentence, and every knife called a conversation. Ponder all of your silverware and tongs being called communication.
Think of every panini press as a date, every cast iron as a gift, and every nonstick as a hug. Imagine everything you knew replaced with new meaning.
Imagine having to relearn everything. And imagine, after all that effort, dropping your grilled cheese on the floor, all blackened and charred, being without cheese, being without bread, and being without a sandwich.
The truth is, no one can make a perfect grilled cheese. Not even the most skilled chef. No recipe can teach anyone how to cook, how to select ingredients, or how to keep food from burning. However, they can guide you. The truth is that every time a recipe fails, it is a momentous learning experience. It’s an opportunity to figure out what pans to avoid, what food won’t work, and what temperature is too hot. So get out there and get that bread, that cheese, and those tools. Get out there and make the best sandwich possible. Maybe, one day, I’ll be proven wrong.
Maybe, after a lifetime of practice, someone will make the perfect grilled cheese.
