My next kitchen project is killer Reuben sandwiches with all of the components homemade (home corned beef, homemade sauerkraut, homemade dressing, fresh homemade sourdough rye bread). The one thing I will buy is the cheese, but I want it to be special enough to stand up to the rest of the ingredients.
To me, Reubens need the unique unwashed feet funk of Swiss cheese. Another cheese just wouldn't be right, but Swiss tends to be waxy. I want the flavor of Swiss, but the creamy melt of Gouda or Gruyere. Is there a Swiss Cheese commonly found in US grocery stores that would deliver on both counts?
Best Answer
I had to look this up. It turns out that Swiss cheese is an American term for what Europeans call Emmentaler cheese.
This cheese is characterized by the large holes created late in the fermentation process. As Wikipedia mentions, the byproducts of its special fermentation, acetate and propionic acid, give it its typical taste. This means that you can't harvest it early when it's still soft and creamy - if you do, it won't have the holes or the taste. So, there is no creamy variation with the same taste. To confirm that, even the cheapest versions are quite firm and non-melty, as opposed to other cheap supermarket versions of semihard cheeses, which are very young and soft.
If you want funk, you can use a soft cheese with a funk. A Tomme de Savoie, or a semihard or soft member of the red mould family, for example Tilsiter or even Limburger, will give you lots of odor. I don't know if they are exported to the US, but if you ask the cheesemonger for a substitute, they will help you easily, I hope.
The other possibility is to process Emmentaler with gelatine in the Kenji way, http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/09/the-burger-lab-how-to-make-super-melty-cheese-slices-like-american.html As any processed cheese, it melts perfectly.