How to make the perfect "Prince of Sandwiches" - the grilled cheese

 

 Forty years ago, as a 17 year-old boy I found myself conscripted to the South African Army. It was a rude awakening. Very different from the comfortable, sheltered life I led at home.

 What does this have to do with food?

 It was during this time I first tasted a proper grilled cheese sandwich and it was grilled, in the barracks, on a clothes-iron. Sure I'd eaten toasted cheese sandwiches before but they were always made in a sandwich press and presented as thin, cheese-lined, card-like, structures that mostly tasted the way they looked.

 The grilled cheese sandwiches we prepared in the barrack room, after a day of abuse by instructors trying to whip us into shape, were some of the best-tasting food I ever had. Those sandwiches provided warmth and comfort to a bunch of mostly scared and confused boys.

 And even now, a hot, perfectly-grilled, crispy-on-the-outside, gooey-on-the-inside, grilled, cheese, sarmie instantly makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Army grilled cheese

So how do you make the Prince of Sandwiches? 

Not so simple

 On the face of it, making a grilled cheese sandwich appears simple. Everyone knows how to do it. Hardly worth an entire blog post but it is not so.

 How do you stop it burning on the outside? Butter, margarine or olive oil as a spread? What sort of bread? Oven, sandwich-maker or pan?

 Not as simple as first believed, 'eh?

  

This is how to make the perfect grilled cheese sandwich.

Plain, ordinary supermarket bread, works best in my opinion. It's firm and stops the cheese from seeping through. Bread a day or two old is even better. Slices should be between 1 and 1,5 cm (around 1/2 an inch) thick.

Choose a soft, buttery cheese that melts well. I use sweet-milk and/or Gouda, as it is easily available in my neck of the woods.

Smear the bottom slice thinly with mayonnaise. This is the secret. Do not use butter, margarine, olive oil or anything else. Mayonnaise is the secret ingredient.

Cover the bottom bread slice in 5mm-thick cheese. It is good if the cheese extends beyond the bounds of the bread, as these pieces turn into wonderful, crispy bits.

Close the sandwich and smear the outer surfaces with, yep, you guessed it, mayonnaise.

Place the sandwich in a pan (this is not the place for sandwich-makers) on a LOW heat. If the pan is too hot the outsides of the sandwich will char. Lining the pan with baking paper makes the whole process easy to clean.

Cook, turning the sandwich over regularly with an egg-lifter, until the outside is crispy and golden brown and the cheese is melted, gooey and has the consistency of cold syrup.

Sprinkle with some rosemary or mixed herbs, cut and eat with your hands - unless you are posh or British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in that case, use a knife and fork.

Hey, I know this is the only way to make the perfect Prince of Sandwiches, but I'm willing to entertain your methods. :) How do you make a perfect, grilled cheese sarmie?