It’s National Patty Melt Day. What’s A Patty Melt?
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February 7th is National Patty Melt Day. A patty melt is a type of hot sandwich with a base a filling—most popularly a burger patty—plus melted cheese. It’s fusion of a burger with a grilled cheese sandwich, with some switches. The sandwich is grilled or fried until the cheese is melted. It became a staple of mid-century American diner culture, combining a classic hamburger and a grilled cheese sandwich, and inspired variations like the tuna melt. Elsewhere on The Nibble: > The different types of sandwiches. > The year’s 28+ sandwich holidays. The patty melt was the original melt sandwich, a fusion of the hamburger and grilled cheese. A ground beef patty (hamburger) is topped with Swiss or other cheese and caramelized onions. Instead of a bun, it’s served between two slices of griddled (griddle-toasted) rye bread. While the bread is traditionally rye or marbled rye, sourdough or Texas toast are sometimes used in some regions, including the southern U.S. Creative chefs use anything from brioche and focaccia to whole grain bread. Here’s how to update the sandwich. |
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 [5] A tuna melt with Cheddar cheese (photo © Good Catch Foods). THE HISTORY OF THE PATTY MELT According to Eater Los Angeles, the patty melt was created, possibly in 1932. by William “Tiny” Naylor, a Los Angeles restaurateur with a coffee shop in Hollywood that evolved into a restaurant chain. Some sources say the patty melt appeared in the 1940s, while others date it from 1930 to 1959. Tiny Naylor’s served the patty melt as an alternative to the standard cheeseburger (and it’s more labor-intensive, by the way). Naylor’s son, Biff Naylor, helped popularize the sandwich across the family’s restaurants and later at Du-Par’s. He combined a griddled beef patty, melted Swiss cheese, and caramelized onions on toasted rye bread. It quickly became a popular alternative to traditional bun-based burgers, first in California. It then became a national diner staple. Purists often forgo condiments like ketchup or mustard to highlight the caramelized onions and grilled bread. There have been other claimants to the invention. Sandwiches consisting of hamburger patties on two slices of bread, rather than into a bun, date to the mid-1800s and were referred to as hamburger sandwiches (they ultimately became the burger on a bun). The first-known mention of a burger with cheese is generally credited to 16-year-old Lionel Sternberger in 1924 (some sources say 1925 or 1926) at his father’s sandwich shop, The Rite Spot, in Pasadena, California. Even if Naylor did not create the first patty melt, as some sources say, food writers agree that Naylor and his family helped popularize the sandwich in their respective restaurants, Tiny Naylor’s and Du-par’s [source]. CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM. |
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