“Swiss” cheese tastes bland. I’ve never understood why it’s so commonly eaten here in the US.
Oh for shame. It has a mild yet robust nutty flavour. Baby Swiss is good too.
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Good Emmentaler is anything but bland. I bet that most of the “Swiss cheese” you’ve encountered has been cheap junk. (This, sadly, is all too common, and not just in America either.)
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His voice is so soothing, and his skills so practical.
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It takes like cheap junk. There’s nicer cheeses that fit that flavor profile.
sort of. A CM usually has also a fried egg and bechamel sauce.
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I will say he is wrong in my book on “there is only one bread, there is only one cheese”…bullshite.
I like white bread and cheddar just fine…though American Cheese is pretty damn good in a simple grilled cheese sammy, one of its best uses.
My go to will always be sliced sourdough bread. Cheese is a mix of extra sharp cheddar and brie with a touch of dijon mustard and grated shallots. The issue with cheddar is it is a naturally dry cheese especially if aged properly. It doesn’t melt well at all. cutting it with either fontina or IMO brie (which always brings a good funk flavor to the party) allows it to become gooey. Using cheddar only on the outside is fine as he does, because this is where the low moisture becomes a strength. It allows it to crisp and carmelize. A soft ■■■■■ cheese won’t do that easily without high heat, and even then it would only end up more like the topping on an onion soup gratin.
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Sourdough is likely one of the better breads, but there’s other breads that can be just as nice if paired with the right cheeses. I haven’t tried it but i can imagine a good rye bread working, maybe a pumpernickel.
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It is the stank you get at room temperature.
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Oh true dat!
I actually have specific combos I rotate through:
Sourdough: cheddar/brie mix with grated shallots and dijon
light seeded rye: meunster cheese with imported ham and tomato
dark rye (pumpernickel): swiss and corned beef or pastrami
Whole wheat: smoked mozz with tomato and prosciutto
White Bread: American Cheese and good old fashioned canned tomato soup for dipping!!
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If that isn’t a lyric, it darn well should be.
i stand corrected!
AMENDED: while i love sharp cheddar, the correct answer is ALMOST all cheeses welcome. 
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That’s funny– when I lived in NY I found myself buying sourdough imported from so cal (la brea bakery) as the only halfway decent brand! NY might be a little more ‘with it’ than a vons in San Diego however. If I leave SF area again good bread is definitely one of the things I will miss the most 
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this scene from Chef is PURE GOLD!!! mixed cheeses FTW.
EDIT: And now I have got to make mojo pork and cubanos this weekend dammit!!!
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I once saw a cooking program years and years ago where a somewhat portly Italian fellow wandered about Italy trying regional dishes. I rather vividly (gak!) recall him hiking up a mountainside with a shepherd or something and stopping at a hut or lean-to where they sampled some of this cheese w maggot gak. He declared the cheese somewhat ‘nutty’ and the texture of the maggots ‘intriguing’. Sounds nutty to me…
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I have only heard that as a croque-madam.
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Hah, fair enough. As a left-coaster I fully admit to being a bagel philistine. There’s a fancy bagel place in my area of Oakland that supposedly has decent bagels (and an insanely long line every Saturday), but alas even it likely falls short (see this NYT article). Honestly I can’t tell the difference, which makes me question my sourdough fanaticism.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/magazine/why-is-it-so-hard-to-get-a-great-bagel-in-california.html
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Stilton used traditionally be served with a Mite Spoon, to scoop up and eat the millions of microscopic Cheese Mites swarming over the mature cheese’s surface. Yum!
As was mentioned above, at least a big part of the SF sourdough advantage is the local wild yeast.
Bagels, I don’t think that’s true. I’ve had great bagels in Pittsburgh, rivaling good bagels in NY (I grew up on Long Island). They were from a store in a Jewish neighborhood in Pittsburgh run by a guy from Brooklyn.
So… yeah. I agree with the NYT, definitely a case of “Stick to recipes that work.”
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I think you just answered your own question there. Same goes for those endless stacks of Provolone and “American” cheese at Subway and stuff. Tastes like nothing. Like light beer. Just how Americans like it.
*I reject out of hand the idea that American cheese is a thing. It’s just rubbery, super weak cheddar and nothing more.
