Forget Mayo: Spread This Rich Ingredient On Bread For A More Flavorful Grilled Cheese

Butter gives your grilled cheese great richness, and using mayo makes it far crispier, but neither adds a ton of strong flavors that can shine through high-quality cheese. That's why you need toum, a Lebanese garlic spread that delivers intense taste with very little effort.

Toum is as rich as mayonnaise and as light and fluffy as whipped cream, created by smashing garlic into a paste and then gradually whipping in oil until it has an airy but glossy consistency. For texture, its incredible fluffiness makes it easy to slather on, covering every last inch in a swiftly melting browning agent that makes the bread crispy. But for flavoring, it makes the end product taste like garlic bread, full of rich fats and pungent aromatics that only requires a swift spread with a knife. It may seem like you're using a lot and will over-season your sandwich, but since so much of it is air, you're actually only using a moderate amount that's quite easy to thoroughly apply.

The combination of melty gooeyness inside and crisp, garlicky exteriors is a second-to-none combination that pairs well with a wide variety of cheeses. Add in the sharpness of the lemon juice, and you get something that can brighten up even the heaviest, fat-laden cheeses quite well. The only caveat is that all that garlic gives it a fairly cool smoke point, so you'll need to use low to medium heat to avoid making it grow bitter.

Since its main flavors are garlic and lemon, toum isn't quite as universal a pairing as mayonnaise or butter. It goes great with anything semi-hard and creamy, but its intensity may clash with anything stronger. You'll also want to know the type of oil used in your toum. Something made with grapeseed, canola, or other neutral varieties is far more compatible than a spread made with a flavorful extra virgin olive oil.

Cheeses with a nuttier profile, like Jarlsberg, Gruyère, and Manchego, are all solid pairings. They tend to be a bit earthier, grounding the brightness of the toum, so it isn't too intense. Since it has no eggs, you can even combine it with melted vegan cheese since nutritional yeast is typically quite aromatic and nutty. Richer, well-rounded varieties can also be quite nice, so some shreds of gouda, raclette, and any triple-cream variety are always welcome additions.

Flavored cheeses are one of the easiest ways to upgrade any melty sandwich, but not all are compatible with toum. While something rich in herbs or wine can complement the garlic quite well, a variety with a lot of sweetened fruit or more lemon can be a bit much. Since toum is already quite tangy, you may also want to steer clear of acidic cheeses like chèvre, feta, or cream cheese. While some may like the brightness, it can quickly become overly intense, and you may find yourself making a new sandwich.