Padma Lakshmi's Thoughts On The Infamous Grilled Cheese Debate
Grilled cheese is irresistibly gooey, cheesily delightful, and the subject of one of foodie kind's most serious debates. But if you aren't in the know about the great grilled cheese discourse, you may find yourself fired up after we propose a simple question: Do you make your grilled cheese with mayo or butter?
While butter enthusiasts may be shocked to hear that anyone would spread mayo on this cheesy afternoon snack, the prospect of slapping some mayonnaise on a grilled cheese is not a new one. In fact, Farmers' Almanac reports that the U.S. has been delighting in cheese and mayo-infused sandwiches since the Great Depression. And while Southern Living claims that mayo makes for a perfectly toasted sandwich thanks to having oil and eggs in its ingredient list, those who adore butter are simply not convinced that they should trade it or margarine out for mayonnaise.
This debate over the best way to make one of America's most beloved treats has left the two sides fighting for their favorite grilled cheese method on the likes of TikTok and Twitter. And now famous "Top Chef" host and cookbook author Padma Lakshmi has finally weighed in on this great grilled cheese debacle.
Here's Padma Lakshmi's take on the age old grilled cheese question
To mayo or not to mayo? That is the question — and it's one that plenty of chefs have answered. For example, Today reports that Martha Stewart is a steadfast believer in the power of mayonnaise on grilled cheese. Meanwhile, The Hallmark Channel revealed that "The Chef Show" mastermind Roy Choi's recipe for the perfect grilled cheese is all about the butter. And with the very taste of countless grilled cheese dinners at stake, Padma Lakshmi broke her silence and revealed her stance on the best way to slather up the sandwich on her Instagram.
In the video, Lakshmi notes that grilled cheese sandwiches cooked with mayo are in fact crispier than those whipped up with butter. However, mayo isn't Lakshmi's go-to method for whipping up an extra tasty grilled cheese.
"I still prefer butter," Lakshmi reported. She doubled down on her enthusiasm for the savory ingredient by writing "team butter" in her post's caption. The biggest reason the chef reported she favored butter was because while mayo may make your lunch perfectly crunchy, the smell of cooked mayonnaise is, to her, similar to "burnt eggs." And this seems to be a pretty common problem butter lovers have with putting mayo on their grilled cheese.
Like many members of team butter, Padma Lakshmi can't get over mayo grilled cheese's smell
Padma Lakshmi isn't alone in her belief that mayo should stick to coleslaw and stay out of grilled cheese recipes. And many fellow butter lovers seem to have a similar problem with the smell of mayo-slathered grilled cheese. For example, on TikTok @thatdudecancook did a taste test to compare two cheesy sandwiches, one made with butter and one made with mayonnaise. According to the content creator, while the butter grilled cheese had an appealing smell, its mayo counterpart's scent had "a bit of a wet dog element to it." The TikToker also reported that the mayo sandwich had a similar "wet dog taste."
And in a Reddit thread where the original poster asked dedicated grilled cheese fans what method of preparation they preferred, one user noted that mayonnaise gives the sandwich a certain "twang" that they simply can't get behind. As the Redditor went on to explain, they found the type of ingredient you use to prepare the bread will seriously influence its smell — which seems to be a make-or-break factor for many grilled cheese enthusiasts. So if you're anything like Lakshmi and her team of butter believers, while mayo can make your grilled cheese extra crunchy, a crisp texture may not be worth sacrificing cooking a sandwich that smells like a buttery dream.