The right cheese. A better dinner.

Do you want flavour, stretch or a smooth sauce?

No cheese is best for everything. Mozzarella stretches, Parmesan provides concentrated flavour, and raclette becomes soft and flowing. Two cheeses together are often more useful than one doing the whole job.

Different cheeses do different jobs.

Melted cheese is not always cheese sauce.

When cheese heats, fat softens and the protein structure changes. Water content, acidity, maturity and cooking affect the result. Some cheeses flow, some stretch and others retain their shape. More heat is not always the answer.

A smooth sauce needs fat and liquid to stay together. Grate the cheese, finish the sauce base first and lower the heat before stirring in a little cheese at a time. Cook a flour-thickened base fully before adding cheese. Avoid prolonged, vigorous boiling afterwards.

Processed cheese is a separate product type

Processed cheese is made by processing cheese with ingredients including water and emulsifying salts. These help fat, water and proteins form an even mixture. A processed burger cheese can therefore provide a smooth covering that regular Cheddar does not always produce. Raclette that melts beautifully is not, for that reason, processed cheese.

Cream cheese is not automatically processed cheese either. Check the ingredients and intended use. Choose Cheddar for its flavour, processed cheese when an even consistency suits the dish, or combine them in a sauce you want to experiment with.

Grate it yourself when consistency matters

You then know which cheese and maturity you are using. Pre-grated cheese may contain anti-caking agents that affect the sauce; other packets contain only cheese. Read the packet. For pizza and gratin, pre-grated cheese is often perfectly practical.

Fondue: the cheese becomes the meal.

Cheese fondue combines grated cheese and liquid into a mixture for dipping bread. Classic moitié-moitié uses equal parts Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois. Gruyère and Emmentaler are another good starting point. Vacherin Fribourgeois is not the same cheese as Vacherin Mont d’Or.

1. Grate or finely slice the cheese. Rub a heavy-based pot with a halved garlic clove.
2. Mix the cheese with the cornflour. Heat the wine gently and add the cheese a little at a time, stirring.
3. Let the cheese melt into a smooth, cohesive mixture. Control the heat and avoid leaving it at a rolling boil.
4. Adjust with a little warm liquid if too thick. Taste before adding salt.
5. Keep warm over low heat in a suitable fondue pot. Continue stirring during the meal, especially along the bottom.

Serve with bread firm enough for dipping, boiled baby potatoes, lightly cooked vegetables, pickled gherkins and a fresh salad. Allow about 150–200 g cheese per adult as a main course, depending on the accompaniments.

Without wine?

Alcohol-free apple juice is an alternative recommended by the Swiss cheese organisation, but adds more sweetness. Mild vegetable stock with a little lemon is another kitchen variation; begin with less liquid and adjust. Flavour and stability will differ from wine. Brief heating does not guarantee that wine-based fondue is alcohol-free.

Raclette need not require a major equipment project.

Raclette names both a cheese type and a meal of melted cheese served over foods including potatoes. Traditionally, a cut surface is heated and the cheese scraped off. At home, small pans in a raclette grill are practical.

1. Boil small waxy potatoes. Prepare mushrooms, onions, broccoli or other vegetables.
2. Place slices of raclette cheese in the pans. Heat until flowing and perhaps lightly golden on top.
3. Pour over hot potatoes and vegetables. Serve with pickled gherkins, pickled onions and, if you like, salad.

About 150–200 g cheese per adult is a useful starting point. Without a raclette grill, use a small ovenproof dish under the oven grill and watch closely. Thin cheese slices over hot potatoes in individual dishes also work.

Gruyère, Fontina or a suitable semi-hard Norwegian cheese can make a good hot potato dish, but the flavour and flow differ. Raclette cheese is the simplest first choice. Remove wax and packaging; judge natural rind according to the product instructions and your taste.

Look beyond the standard block.

Small Norwegian dairies make cheeses that deserve a place at dinner. You need not grate an expensive cheese over everything: use a smaller amount where you will notice it. In a mild gratin, one distinctive cheese can transform the dish.

Cheese types and producer details come from the sources below. Cooking uses are our suggestions, not a claim that every combination has been tested. Melting properties vary with maturity and batch. Ask the cheese counter or dairy which variety they recommend for hot dishes.

Ask this at the cheese counter

“I am making potato gratin – which local cheese melts smoothly, and how strong is it?” is more useful than simply “which cheese is best?”. Describe the dish and ask about maturity, rind and suitable quantity. Farm shops and specialist shops may carry different varieties from supermarkets.

When the cheese will not cooperate.

Substitute by properties, not just colour.

Gruyère can often be replaced with Comté or a suitable semi-hard cheese when melting and nutty flavour are the aim. Grana Padano can sometimes replace Parmesan; Pecorino often needs a smaller quantity because salt and strength differ. Mozzarella and ricotta, however, are not equivalent substitutes in a filling.

Store cheese cool and wrapped according to the manufacturer’s advice. Small leftovers of hard cheeses can be grated and frozen in portions for cooking; the texture may change. Use the oldest leftovers first and label the bag with the cheese type. Wax, plastic and other inedible coatings must not go into the pot.

A clean, edible Parmesan rind can simmer in soup or ragù and be removed before serving. Small amounts of brunost can go into game or cream sauces, but add sweetness and cannot replace white goat’s cheese. Kvit Undredal and brown goat’s cheese are very different ingredients.