First, let’s establish two facts about grilled cheese sandwiches:
The bread must be buttery
Mayo must also be spread on the outside of the bread for crispness and even more flavor
These are facts, not opinions, and if you feel differently…well, I feel bad for you son. You can leave 99 things off grilled cheese but mayo ain’t one.
With this in mind, Tillamook is releasing a limited-edition Butternaise. No longer will you have to take the time to spread two items on your bread! Grilled cheese lovers rejoice. I might camp out overnight in line at the grocery store to get mine before it sells out.
I’ve fried in mayo and it works just fine, mainly because the oil in mayo has a higher smoke point than butter, so is less likely to burn. You can get the same result using ghee, but mayo has the additional benefit of an eggy, tangy flavor.
Mmmm. Tillamook. If you are ever traveling along the Oregon coast, there is a lovey town by that name, and just north the dairy actually has a Visitor Center, where you can watch and learn about the cheese-making and packing process real time, and buy cheesy gifts. They also serve their branded ice cream and solid food options, which include fried cheese curds. They may also have Lactaid available. Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled Grilled Cheese thread.
It appears to include 30 thin slices of cheddar cheese, a wooden handled spreader, and 8 oz. of “butternaise”. Seems like a nice little gift for a grilled cheese lover at $15.
It should also be noted that it’s not just any mayonnaise that they are using, it’s specifically Kewpie brand out of Japan. I’m not that big of a mayo fan, but I like Kewpie quite a bit. They also add some seasoning that was meant for french fries to the mix to give it a bit of kick.
For me, the recipe for “heated cheese and bread” (probably doesn’t qualify as “grilled”) was: take slices of bread, put slices of cheese on them, put in oven for a few minutes. (This is the complete recipe.)
It works well enough, just not as good as butter in my opinion. It tastes like mayo, not butter, which I prefer in my grilled cheese.
I like to keep my grilled cheese simple. Don’t need any spices or any additions. Just butter, cheese, bread. I like a mix of Munster and some kind of orange process cheese—not the plastic wrapped singles, but like deli style American. Nice meltiness.
I checked the Tillamook site at 8:30 am PST and it still showed the product as pending. I just checked at 9:30 am, and it’s already sold out. It must have gone live at 9:00 and sold out immediately.