By Craig Wilson, USA TODAY
Like everything else, certain foods go in and out of fashion.
By Karl Gelles, USA TODAY
By Karl Gelles, USA TODAY
There are years when everything French is in vogue. Then pasta takes center stage for a while. And remember the fondue frenzy? I hardly do, it was so mercifully short.
My mother never paid much attention to what was simmering in the culinary world. Or on the stove, for that matter. The Wilson diet changed little over the years. Meat-and-potato people we were.
And anything rare was rare. Mom would put the roast in the oven before we went off to church, and three hours later, that little piece of meat was done. Well. I didn't even know you could eat meat rare until I left home. Imagine my surprise.
As for our lunch menu, it could have been stolen from a diner. Grilled cheese was a staple. I remember thinking it was kind of exotic. Almost gourmet. Mom had to get another appliance out to prepare it, an extra step, something she rarely did.
But get out the Velveeta and the Wonder Bread, smash them between those two heavy lids of the grill, and you've got yourself a treat.
So I'm always amused when the sophisticated food world discovers the joys of simple comfort food, as Laura Werlin has in her new book, Grilled Cheese, Please!
The book, which contains "50 scrumptiously cheesy recipes," is out this week. Werlin appears to have a good spirit, but I fear she's verging on ruining a very good thing here. Artichoke Dip Grilled Cheese? Chips and Guacamole Grilled Cheese?
Why not leave well enough alone? It ain't broken.
My grandmother used to put sliced tomatoes in with her grilled cheese. I thought that was a little avant-garde, although I wasn't quite sure what avant-garde meant at the time. I knew it was French, so it could mean trouble.
And I heard once that someone actually put bacon on his grilled cheese. Why would you do that? It's not breakfast. Bacon only appeared at breakfast at the Wilsons'. There were rules.
And now this month's issue of Bon App�tit celebrates ... guess what? Mac and cheese! The headline? "Dig Into Comfort."
The dish photographed on the cover does look mighty yummy. They call it Pimiento Macaroni & Cheese.
While I think it's nice that Southerners have a little cheese all their own, I don't care. My mother's mac and cheese didn't need any such thing. It came right out of that bright blue box from Kraft. It was delicious.
And I'll confess. I still take some comfort there.
E-mail cwilson@usatoday.com.
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