The Los Angeles Grilled Cheese Invitational

A few weeks ago I stumbled across this festival while doing some research on cheeses. From the moment I laid my eyes on the word competition the competitive spirit in me came to life. I have always had an eagerness to compete in clashes that involve food. So I set out to do battle in the unknown, with limited experience making grilled cheese sandwiches and having no idea how this competition would be won or lost.

The Grilled Cheese Invitational (GCI) is the largest, craziest, and most exciting Grilled Cheese cooking contest in the country. The GCI promotes an almost scary pursuit of perfection in a Grilled Cheese Sandwich and allows for amateur and professional chefs to compete side-by-side in the hopes of becoming a true Grilled Cheese Champion.

The event was created by Tim Walker in 2003, in private artist loft in Downtown Los Angeles as a competition between friends. Since then, the Invitational has grown into a national movement dedicated to perfecting the art of grilled cheese, with thousands of cheese fiends and regional competitions across the country.

The Artichoke Assassin, born out of inspiration found at the bottom of several beer cans was to represent team Culinary Addictions in the Karma Sutra category. This sandwiches guts are made of gruyere, provolone, mozzarella, parmesan, asiago, and a home made artichoke and jalapeño spread tucked inside a croissant, I will share the recipe in my next post. The artichoke and jalapeno spread is a spin off of a classic recipe of mine that is usually served as a dip.

After two weeks of testing and several nights of tastings, the day finally came that team Culinary Addiction, Bryan Pines, Iqbal Djauhar, and I would make our first attempt at winning the GCI. Bryan was our runner, Iqbal our photographer, and me the Artichoke Assassins father.

When we arrived we were surprised at the turn out for this battle. I can definitely say I don’t see this thing coming to an end and I hope the best for its founders. It’s always nice to be apart of large events that brings out the LA community, especially when it involves food. Several media reporters where out covering the event as well, here is a shot of me with USC TV.

I was a bit worried that we would have to cook with an electric skillet. I only practiced on a gas stove and anyone that has done both knows that there are major differences with maintaining the heat consistency that you want. This was my major hurdle in over coming so we went thru a few test sandwiches before we started to serve the judges.

We seemed to have gotten a great response, but as you know many people hold off on giving you the constructive criticism. I would have like to know what people truly thought of my sandwich and what improvements could be made.  We were required to serve 20 samples in 50 minutes, which we successfully did in about 30 minutes and still had some goods to give out extra.

So the time came….. the wait for judgment. The team left to enjoy some beverages and to catch a nap, well except me. I was restless with anticipation, running thru my minds eye the days events, how my sandwich was made, was it any good, did I do a good job, and what it would feel like to win that trophy.

Unfortunately we did not win this year, but we did take a lot of experience from the competition. Next year team Culinary Addictions will be pulling out all the stops as many of our opponents did with costumes, and a more creative presentation.

Pictures by Iqbal Djauhar, 17thletter Photography aka Argyle Assassin

http://www.flickr.com/photos/argyle_assassin/

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Two Thumbs Down for the Double Down

Last week KFC formally known as Kentucky Fried Chicken debuted their new “Double Down” Sandwich. One which some say symbolizes American gluttony, it consists of two fried chicken breasts, with two slices of cheese, two pieces of bacon and a secret sauce.

After a night of heavy drinking I thought I’d give this bad boy a try, nothing like some greasy food to help one cope with a hang over, especially when it includes bacon. Yes I am a big bacon fan. After picking up the sandwich I parked and went to town.

Upon unwrapping this unhealthy beast I was astonished, WHAT THE FUCK??? This sandwich looks like shit and has fake bacon…… FAKE BACON!!!! It looked as fake as vegetarian bacon. Look at the pics I took, fake bacon un-melted cheese, in between what I hoped was real chicken breast.

This sandwich was nothing but hype and looks nothing like its picture. I almost wanted to walk back into that KFC and re-enact that scene from “Falling Down”.  Why do we put up with this? Shit why did I put up with it? I suppose we have given into gimmicks and schemes to coax us into buying crap from fast food joints. It just goes to show we do eat with our eyes and stomach before we do with our mouths.

What other abominations will fast food chains try and razzle and dazzle us with? I for one would not be surprised if they did this with beef. Oh yeah I can picture it now, two all beef patties with bacon cheese and a special sauce.  I don’t see Double Down being on the market long.

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Born out of French Colonialism: Bánh mì Van Sandwiches

You ever see those small restaurants that you pass by almost everyday and wonder how the food is? Every now and then you should take the plunge and venture in and see what this eatery may have to offer. There is a sandwich shop around the corner from my daughters’ moms’ house I pass almost every day called Bánh mì Van Sandwiches in the Vietnamese area in Reseda.

I stopped by there yesterday on the way home and this morning on the way to work. Their sandwiches are very good. They taste fresh and are very healthy. They also sell a bunch of other Vietnamese on the go food, like spring rolls, egg rolls, Pho, and much more.

One of the things I like about this place is that it’s a small family ran operation. I don’t know the ladies name that runs that spot yet, but I certainly will be asking when I visit again.

So what is Bánh mì? It's a Vietnamese sandwich in a baguette traditionally made with thinly sliced pickled carrots, daikon, cucumbers, cilantro, chili peppers, pâté, mayonnaise and various meat fillings or tofu.  The Bánh mì was born out of French colonialism combining ingredients from the French; baguettes, pâté and mayonnaise with Vietnamese ingredients like cilantro, hot peppers, fish sauce and pickled carrots.

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