Bread. Butter. Cheese. Victory!
I've got a thing for fandom. While usually reserved for deeply layered characters, niche creations, or historic franchises just about any (well executed) public display of enthusiasm seldom fails to please. Though my own attendance at various conventions, midnight movie premiers, or sordid book signings has typically remained content driven I can imagine several scenarios appealing to a broader audience, harnessing a sort of universal sensory appeal which lures aficionados and passers by alike.
I speak of Grilled Cheese.
Admittedly we have a history, hours spent in dimly lit spaces hunched over a lease-violating hot plate patiently watching the subtle reactions necessary to achieve that edible, viscous gold. I'd gently prod the intentionally burnt spillage whose bubbling surface signaled the climax of a reaction entirely vital to the reproduction process.
This level of devotion is pleasant but unnecessary.
Look now through the above portal for a brief account of the 2nd Annual NorCal Grilled Cheese Invitational. Witness the screaming throngs, manic man flashing, and overall spectacle centered around this universal act built on the simplest of culinary combinations. While the event organizers and participants are undoubtedly hardcore the energy bursting from attendees is what strikes me as the purest. I can easily imagine a casual passer by - whose thoughts of grilled cheese do not border on sexual - suddenly alert, nostrils flared and body in tune with the siren song of sizzling skillets. They act on pure instinct, joining those already present in a wordless worship of both simple and complex mastery.
They likely don't frequent food blogs, drool over the glossy pages of a favorite chef's cookbook, or swap recipes in their off time. Yet they are fans still, devotees if only for an afternoon caught up in either the spectacle or experience of a mob whose immediate goals are perfectly genuine. While levels of fanaticism certainly vary I doubt the outside observer would be able to discern any difference in the antics displayed above.
It's pleasing to know these events exist, transcending the norms of obsession and morphing to a kind of inclusive flash mob whose only defining characteristic is enthusiasm.
[via Laughing Squid via SFoodie]
