Grilled cheese: tender melting with smoky flavour
Grilled cheese is no longer just a popular alternative to meat, sausages and vegetable skewers among vegetarians. This is demonstrated by the ever-increasing range of this product in the refrigerated counters of supermarkets. Grilling with cheese is by no means boring and has now managed to free itself of its squeaky image. Paired with spicy marinades, fresh herbs and a little fruit or vegetables, cheese on the hot grill or on the plank can certainly offer star qualities.
Halloumi or feta are probably the best-known grilled cheeses, while Camembert has made a name for itself more as an oven cheese. The cheeses that are sold as grilled cheeses have a relatively high melting point, so you don't have to worry about the cheese melting on the grill as soon as it is exposed to the heat. Grilled halloumi is frowned upon by some as "squeaky cheese", but it loses this quality if it is marinated with a little oil beforehand. Halloumi originally comes from Cyprus, where shepherds have been tending goats and sheep in the rugged interior of the island for centuries and making cheese to preserve the milk. Nowadays halloumi is also made from cow's milk into a semi-hard cheese. In order to grill the cheese as gently as possible, some grilling books still recommend using an aluminum tray. Since the cheeses - regardless of whether they are made from cow's, sheep's or goat's milk - always contain a certain amount of salt, it is not advisable to associate it with aluminum for health reasons. The salt can dissolve aluminum during grilling, which then enters our bodies when we eat. It is better to use either stainless steel bowls or wooden planks.
But other types of cheese are also suitable for grilling, at least if they have been prepared accordingly beforehand and are not grilled directly on the grill. For example, breading can provide additional stability for soft cheeses such as Camembert or blue cheese. A classic is grilled goat's cheese, which is best refined with smoky aromas on a closed grill plate. A few drops of honey round off the taste experience, but fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme or mint also go well with goat's and sheep's cheese. So there is plenty of scope for anyone who likes to experiment with different flavors.
Grilled cheese recipe by Martin Seibold: SAGANAKI
Ingredients:
• 3 feta cheese (halved)
• 3 eggs
• some flour (for breading)
• some breadcrumbs (for coating)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• a few chilli flakes
• some oil (for moistening the griddle)
Preparation:
Halve the feta cheese, season the three eggs with salt and pepper and a few chili flakes to taste and whisk. First coat the cheese in flour, dip it in the egg and roll it in the breadcrumbs, then repeat this process again, but without the flour. So basically coat the feta twice so that the cheese gets a nice, dense coating and doesn't leak out when grilling. Bring the grill to operating temperature and place a griddle coated with oil on top. Grill the breaded cheese halves until golden brown. Now finish cooking the cheese indirectly on the grill at 200 °C until the coating rises slightly, this takes about 10 minutes. Arrange and serve with a green salad. Add some tzatziki, olives and peppers and all is well with the world.
There are even more recipes in our recipe database:
Burrata grilled cheese and grilled camembert with berries, honey and chili