Cheese substitute?

amusedmonkey

I want to make a recipe that calls for gruyere cheese, but I don't have access to it. How does this cheese melt? Does it do the stretchy thing like mozzarella, melts into a watery consistency like cream cheese, or keeps its shape like feta? I have feta, mozzarella, cream cheese, kashkawan and parmesan around the house. Oh I also have that processed cheddar that comes in a carton (google kraft cheddar). What would be the most fitting (even if not perfect) substitute?

Francl27

What recipe is it? It's pretty much Swiss cheese. I guess I'd use parmesan or kashkawan (never heard of that one though)... the other 3 are not close at all.

amusedmonkey

This is the recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Baked-Egg-Custard-with-Gruyere-and-Chives-350969

And this is kashkawan (kashkaval)
http://www.cheese.com/kashkaval/

maroonmango211

I would use a mix of parm and mozza, our family enjoys those flavors in egg dishes that look similar.

AJ_G

Not sure where you live, but the major chain grocery stores like Safeway will have Swiss Gruyere

AngelsFan91106

Gruyere is a hard, aged cheese kinda like kashkawan is described in your link. But I'd suggest that maybe you shouldn't try the recipe until you can get your hands on gruyere because egg as an ingredient can do funky things--this custard is supposed to puff up, but I don't know that it would if you used any of the softer cheeses that you mentioned.

amusedmonkey

AngelsFan91106 wrote: »

Gruyere is a hard, aged cheese kinda like kashkawan is described in your link. But I'd suggest that maybe you shouldn't try the recipe until you can get your hands on gruyere because egg as an ingredient can do funky things--this custard is supposed to puff up, but I don't know that it would if you used any of the softer cheeses that you mentioned.

I'm doing this in a much smaller serving, just to test it out. I don't know if it's worth driving around looking for a place that sells it (my local safeway doesn't). I may just use kashkawan or parmesan in this case and go lighter on the salt.

Slacker16

Assuming kashkawan is like the cheese I know as cascaval (the s is a sh), that would be the closest one. The taste is very different (cascaval is a bit like a stronger tasting cheddar) but it melts nicely and becomes stretchy but firmer than mozzarella.

Mozzarella would be an okay choice too.