How to make an SGCT (seriously good cheese toastie)

What I love most about Scottish food is the staunch reliance on quality ingredients and the intense pride taken in the numerous food staples for which Scotland is known. Things like heather honey, seafood, haggis, oats, and various fruits and vegetables like raspberries, kale and leeks. Then there are dairy products like cream, ice cream and of course, cheese. You can get some truly remarkable cheeses in Scotland, and you are missing out if you don’t enjoy an after-dinner Scottish cheese board at least once.

Just off of Princes Street, Edinburgh’s Christmas markets are in full swing. Along with the ever popular German market, the Highland Village market is once again bursting with offers, including the return of the Aberdeen Angus burger.

However there is a market newcomer about which I am over the moon. Welcome to the world of the SGCT, also known as the “Seriously Good Cheese Toastie.” A cheese toastie may seem like a simple thing and in many ways it is, but it is the approach to the toastie making that makes this so…seriously good. And seriously Scottish.

The sign says it all. Simple, but goooood. Take high quality ingredients, combine them in a way that makes them compliment each other, and you’ve got something that is, for lack of a better term, pure dead brilliant.

To add to the flavour sensation of sourdough, cheddar and leeks, the toastie folks (say hello to SGCT co-founder Moray and toastie sidekick Debbie) have piping hot mulled Moniack Mead available as well. Mmmm…sips of honey and cinnamon and warmth and goodness in-between bites of toastie excellence…

I admit I am slightly addicted to the SGCT. As such, I have tasked myself with trying to recreate them at home. After all, the Christmas markets will end on Christmas Eve and I don’t want to be in danger of sudden and lasting withdrawal symptoms.

So I bought myself some good sough dough bread and some Mull of Kintyre cheddar. Then I threw my leek/onion/garlic combo in the food processor to chop it really fine. Combine and grill!

Before:

After:

My first attempt was good but not as good as the original SGCT. I shall have to try again, and next time I may substitute green onion for the red onion, lower the overall amount of onion and increase the amount of leeks. I also need to get my hands on some Isle of Mull cheese as there is just something about that flavour that I prefer. Oh dear, I think I am turning into a cheese toastie snob.

Do you have a secret to making your own SGCT? Let me know. And if anyone is heading through Edinburgh and would rather not eat their holiday toastie all alone, I am a more than reliable toastie date.