satisfy hunger; they nourish us in a
deep and even spiritual way. My personal food is toasted rye bread covered with a thin layer of cheddar and
marmalade, a treat my grandmother
enjoyed daily with a cup of dark tea.
We shared this toast
when I visited her as
a child, and I’ve always been drawn to
its pungent flavors.
Patrick’s personal
food is pimento
cheese. His mother
would take blocks
of American cheese,
jars of Miracle
Whip, and cans of
pimentos and, sit-
ting under the oak
trees in Little Rock, Arkansas, grind
them together. We played around with
the recipe and came up with a better-
tasting version. Sometimes we’ll have
pimento cheese panini for dinner with
a glass of Veuve Clicquot.
I know what you’re thinking: French
champagne with grilled cheese? Yes,
it’s odd, and we’d never serve it to
friends. But that’s the beauty of personal foods—they’re yours, they’re comforting, and no one else has to know. ;
Personal
foods do
more than
satisfy
hunger;
they
nourish us
in a deep
and even
spiritual
way.
SEVERAL YEARS AGO my hus-
band, artist Patrick McFarlin,
Some folks, frequently men, aban-
don their healthy eating habits and go
for a massive steak with French fries,
or a flank steak stuffed with bacon and
cheese. Others make fairly elaborate
dishes for one—the woman who cooks
seared scallops with asparagus and a
lemony butter, for instance. And a few
eat the most disgusting things, such as
bread soaked in margarita mix.
Weird foods notwithstanding,
when Patrick and I started posing the
eating-solo question to friends, we
discovered that most people have one
or two dishes (what I call “personal
foods”) that they cook for themselves
alone. Personal foods do more than
Deborah Madison is the author of What
We Eat When We Eat Alone.
FRANCESCO LAGNESE
Serves 1
§ ounce cheddar or
cheddar-Jack
2 teaspoons diced
Spanish peppers
or pimentos
2 teaspoons
mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon dry
mustard
› teaspoon paprika
Black pepper
1 sliced scallion,
green part only
1 slice sourdough
bread, cut in half
Olive oil as needed
1. Grate cheese; combine it with the Spanish peppers, mayo,
mustard, and paprika.
Season with black
pepper; add scallion.
2. Spread mixture on
each half of bread,
brush with olive oil,
and grill until golden.
Nutrients per serving
409 calories, 15g protein,
55g carbohydrates, 3g
fiber, 14g fat, 18mg cholesterol, 764mg sodium
Pimento Cheese Panini
