Last night I competed in the Austin Grilled Cheese Invitational. And I won third place in the dessert sandwich category. The idea for the "tiramisu" grilledcheese came to me late at night, the night before the contest when I should have been in bed. Instead, I was experimenting with making a creamcheese filling flavored with scotch, and trying to perfect a technique to adhere molten brown sugar to the outside of ladyfinger pastry. The proof of my success is in the results. I am a winner.
I found out about the contest from my friend Ms.Hill, who emailed me a tip. I registered at the last minute, mainly because I got this incredible idea for a sandwich that would incorporate spicy mango pickle, one of the most eye-opening tastes in the world. But then, in a moment of panic, I entered all three categories:
-For the "Missionary" or plain grilled cheese category I made the "McBoring", a blend of sharp cheddar and fresh mozzarella between two slices of sourdough bread, and fried in olive oil (which I believe creates a crisper bread than slathering the sandwich in butter). The fresh mozzarella doesn’t melt per say, but does create a gooey wad of cheese with the stretchy characteristics of bubblegum, only hotter and greasier.
-For the "Kama Sutra" category I entered the sandwich with a tangy layer of spicy mango pickle, smothered in a blend of fresh mozzarella and queso fresco, and a few yellow pepper slivers to give it a crispy bite.
-The dessert or "Honey Pot" category was the winning "tiramisu" sandwich. I’ve shown you the trophy, right?
What I think I like best about the trophy are the googley-eyed cats being ridden by godzilla.
Anyhoo, the GF and I arrived at the competition, and we were barely out of the car when I caught sight of a couple people wearing assless chaps. "Ah," I thought, a clarity of understanding snapping into place. "This is a burner event." (It turned out that I was only mostly right, this was an event heavily supported if not organized by the "Flipside" crowd, a smaller Texas version of Burning Man.)
Note the MC who is wearing typically silly burner attire:
The GF and I set up at our grilling station, drawing stares as the only people who seemed to have assembled their sandwiches ahead of time.
The organizers were actually organized. Before the event, they had stapled ballots to paper plates, which allowed the public to vote on their grilledcheese sandwich samples.
They also made up these nifty paper hats with the Grilled Cheese Invitational logo on them.
The other contestants set up,
including these folks who all showed up with matching clothes and matching goggles:
Somehow, a significant amount of the general public thinks that grilling sandwiches is a spectator sport:
As the night progressed, the line for judging samples grew huge, stretching out into the parking lot.
Pictured here are Josh and Chris, who made a dessert sandwich from fried angelfod cake. Inside, they had a blueberry pie filling, banana slices, and a cheese goop made from blended mascarpone and cream cheese. It is only by the capriciousness of the judging public that my "tiramisu" scored higher.
Of course if it hadn’t, then I wouldn’t be a winner.
