|
[1] A patty melt with fries (photo © Spread & Co. | Austin).
[3] This patty melt at Spread & Co. in Austin, Texas places the beef patty on thick brioche, with pimento cheese caramelized onions and pickles, plus a “secret sauce” (photo © Spread & Co.).
[3] This recipe uses swirled marble rye bread and adds Dijon mustard (photo © Land O’ Lakes).
[4] A vegan patty melt made with the Impossible Burger (photo © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).
|
|
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.
Melt vs. Grilled Cheese. With a patty melt, the cheese is an auxiliary ingredient to the main item: chicken, ham, grilled vegetables, ground meat patty, roast beef, tuna, turkey, vegetarian patty.
Both grilled cheese sandwiches and melts are made on grilled bread, using a frying pan, griddle, or panini press. Grilling toasts the bread while simultaneously melting the cheese.
BMelt vs. Cheeseburger. The patty melt is served on grilled, buttered bread instead of a roll. The cheese is always topped with caramelized onions.
> The history of the patty melt is below.
Elsewhere on The Nibble:
> The different types of sandwiches.
> The history of sandwiches.
> The year’s 28+ sandwich holidays.
TYPES OF MELT SANDWICHES
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.
Different varieties of melt sandwiches have evolved, the most popular of which are:
Tuna melt is a common melt sandwich. The filling is tuna, with or without mayonnaise (i.e., flaked tuna from the can or tuna salad).
Ham melt is another popular form.
THE UPDATED PATTY MELT
Here’s how to update the sandwich.
Patties. Modern patty melts can be made with any type of burger—tuna burger, turkey burger, vegetarian or vegan burger (photo #4), etc. They can be grilled on a panini press. Modern additions include sides of lettuce, tomato, and pickles. We’ve spotted a patty melt that layers arugula atop the caramelized onions.
Cheese. Swiss cheese can be replaced by Cheddar, Fontina, Gruyère, or other semihard variety. Pimento cheese or other cheese spread is another tasty option (the different types of cheese).
Garnishes. Instead of caramelized onions, add capers, chutney, pickle slices, relish, or anything that tempts your imagination, from garlic-sautéed spinach to kimchi.
Sides. The sandwich can be served with coleslaw and French fries or hash browns.
Spread. While the bread does not typically have a spread (butter, mayo, etc.), some variations slather the inside of the bread with Thousand Island dressing. Dijon or whole-grain mustard are also options. We’ve even seen versions with barbecue sauce on the sandwich, one venue with the French béchamel sauce, and hot chile aïoli on the side.
Grilling. With any melt, after the ingredients are assembled the entire sandwich is grilled to fully melt the cheese.
Bread. Save the carbs and serve the sandwich open-face.
|
[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.
|
