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Swiss Cheese Sandwich
When Guyere-Swiss cheese is used, it should be cut very thin, sprinkled with salt and pepper and French mustard and spread on thin slices of bread.
A one-sentence sandwich that depends entirely on how thin the cheese is cut. A few notes on the terms and on what "French mustard" meant around 1900.
- "Guyere-Swiss"A garbled rendering of Gruyère, here used loosely for firm Alpine cheese generally. Either true Gruyère or a domestic Swiss with eyes will do; the point is a hard, dry cheese that can be shaved rather than a soft one that smears.
- Cut very thinThis is the hinge. Thick slabs of Alpine cheese are waxy and dominate the bread. Use a cheese plane or a vegetable peeler and lay two or three near-translucent sheets per sandwich.
- French mustardIn American books of this period the term generally meant a prepared, mild, vinegar- or wine-based mustard rather than English dry mustard powder; the bright yellow style was not yet widespread. A smooth Dijon is the nearest modern substitute.
- Seasoning orderSalt, pepper and mustard go on the cheese, not the bread; the dressed cheese is then laid on the bread.
- The breadThe recipe specifies only thin slices. A firm, close-grained white loaf holds up best; open, airy artisan bread will tear under the cheese.
- Served coldNothing here is grilled or toasted; the sandwich is simply assembled and eaten as is.
Sandwich chapters grew markedly in American cookbooks around the turn of the twentieth century, and they are often written in this clipped, note-like style rather than as full recipes. Swiss mountain cheeses such as Gruyere were among the imported cheeses stocked by American grocers, which may be why the book names the cheese by origin while leaving the bread unspecified. "Swiss" was also doing duty in English as a loose term for pale, holed, firm cheese of this type.