Looking down at the warm embrace of cheese and toasted Martin’s potato bread comforts me with the familiar aroma of sweetness, mirth, and family. I can’t wait to dig in. I know my mom has stacked two Kraft singles in between my childhood favorite spongy bread before buttering the outsides. It smells like heaven. Despite my family’s opposing worlds, my father’s American culture and my mother’s background of African cooking make a simple, yet deeply soothing comfort dish. Grilled cheese.

The grilled cheese emerged as an American staple food in the Great Depression era (Kuecker). While this was its popularity peak due to its widespread convenience and accessibility, the American artisanal cheese-making industry refined its taste. It was carried on by conscientious U.S. women who experimented with “caseyculture” (Keenan). Caseyculture is an industry tied to the culturing of cheese - one of grilled cheese’s optimal ingredients, according to the Wall Street Journal. Investigating historical times, we find that American women were the propellers of the heart of American food culture. “Some were back-to-the-landers, or interested in the "eat local" movement… still others were inspired by lush French goat cheeses and the burgeoning California cuisine” (Keenan). 

We can thank the industry behind culturing cheese for our delicious grilled cheese enjoyed today in American restaurants. One famous name in modern American food culture is Guy Fieri, who, in his hit-show series of Flavortown, explores grilled cheese among other relevant dishes in United States pop culture (Contois). As I see it, American food culture encompasses various foods from around the world resembling our diversity in ethnicity and thought. Although other countries perceive us as only eating hamburgers, they are missing cultural gems such as the adapted Jamaican jerk chicken and carne asada. The existence of countless cultures around us fuel the authenticity of distinctive restaurants around the United States.