What's a good cheese to put on a French Dip Beef Sandwich?

[terlin]

What's a good cheese to put on a hot French Dip Beef Sandwich?

[awm922]

Jarlsberg

[eclecticsynergy]

Surprised nobody has suggested Muenster- it has the nice creamy melt of Mozzarella but a bit more flavor.

I also concur with the suggestions for:
Provolone
Mozzarella
Comté Gruyere, the king of Swiss cheese
horseradish Cheddar, available at supermarket deli counters
jalapeño Jack, though it might overshadow the beef flavor a bit
and maybe even Cheez Whiz, which became standard on cheesesteaks not for its flavor but because it's already liquefied (not kosher to have meat and cheese on the grill together)

[FoodChic]

Gorgonzola!

[jmcarthur8]

From a former Chicagoan who always put mozzarella on an Italian Beef, my vote is for mozzarella on the French Dip, too.
If it goes between bread, cheese is mandatory - tradition or not.
I like the idea of pepper jack, but I love the stretchy stringiness of the mozzarella on a wet beefy sandwich.
Just ate pastrami with swiss on pumpernickel, and now I'm jonesing for the Italian beef I have in the fridge.
Yum.

[BeefeaterRocks]

If you must, how about a horseradish cheddar?

[Big Bad Voodoo Lou]

My sentiments exactly. Horseradish cheddar all the way, followed by a good sharp provolone or aged swiss.

[terlin]

Where can I get it? Never heard of it, but it sounds great - I love horseradish with beef.

[Big Bad Voodoo Lou]

Where do you live? In Florida, Publix supermarkets carry Boars Head meats and cheeses at their delis, and Boars Head has an amazing white cheddar with horseradish.

[Veggo]

Cabot makes a nice horseradish cheddar, but not very many stores carry it, to my disappointment.

[terlin]

San Diego CA

[onrushpam]

I'm usually in the "no cheese" camp. But, there's a bagel/sandwich place here that makes one on a toasted baguette with a schmear of cream cheese and then provolone melted over the top. It's my favorite sandwich there. But, I only get a half, because a whole one is just too much!

[gilintx]

I tend to agree with the 'no cheese' crowd, but I'm surprised no one has mentioned comte yet. Practically built for a sandwich.

[DishDelish]

I've never used any for French Dip.

[Cheese Boy]

I keep them SEPARATE of each other too. So +1 to that.
If it wasn't frowned upon, I think I'd do shots with the au jus.

[DishDelish]

lol, so funny. You can do it when no one is watching. ;)

[smarsh]

If no cheese isn't an option, then I concur with a good swiss. I'm also quite a fan of pepper jack and green chiles on a hot beef sandwich but I don't "dip" those.

[Gail]

No cheese, the French dip sandwich is rich enought with the au jus...less is more.

[GraydonCarter]

I don't disagree, but while it isn't quite part of the Chowhound Manifesto, there is a mantra that says, "Everything tastes better with cheese."

[c oliver]

I can't remember French dips having cheese. Or needing cheese. Bread, meat and jus.

[Uncle Bob]

I lean towards a good aged Swiss on a RB Po-Boy at times....Not the same animal I know...but still a good Swiss is my suggestion!

[ipsedixit]

In this order of preference.

1. None.
2. American
3. Swiss
4. Cheez Whiz

[hill food]

ipse: wouldn't #4 be a French Philly wit' jus 'n' WIT'?

I did almost suggest that. or Provel (for those outside the ken it has little to do with provolone).

[ipsedixit]

ipse: wouldn't #4 be a French Philly wit' jus 'n' wit'?
__________________

And, that would be bad, how? :-)

[monku]

Is that Cheez Whiz stuff supposed to resemble the stuff they put on Arby's Beef & Cheddar sandwiches?

[hill food]

monku, I believe it's vice versa. (see, Arby's can't even get that right)

[Gail]

Maybe that's why they filed for chapter 11 and are up for sale.

[ipsedixit]

Don't insult Cheez Whiz by comparing it to Arby's cheese sauce.

[Veggo]

Funny, I like Cheez Whiz, but not for me, for feeding fish on shallow reef dives. Fish love it. But below 30 feet, it doesn't have pressure to come out of the can.

[monku]

Cheez Whiz doesn't come in a spray can....you're thinking of Easy Cheese.
http://www.nabiscoworld.com/easy-cheese/

[ipsedixit]

It' better. It comes in a squeeze bottle. So much the better to control outgoing flow.

[Veggo]

Nice pic, suitable for framing.

[ipsedixit]

I prefer the actual thing. It adorns my living room wall, along with Warhol, Pollack and Dali.

[Veggo]

I suppose it would pair well with Warhol's Campbell soup can.

[ipsedixit]

If Pollack was still around, he probably could've created edible art from it.

[jmcarthur8]

Yeah, like the lickable wallpaper in Willy Wonka. Mmmm cheezy...

[Veggo]

And Alexander Calder could create some really tawdry mobiles from the empties.

[monku]

Both are a processed cheese sauce whatever that is.

[Veggo]

Fish are willing to overlook or foregive this deficiency.

[ipsedixit]

Give me a can of Cheez Whiz and some Spam and I'll outlive any creature during a nuclear winter.

[Veggo]

Uu, nuclear winter sounds so harsh. I would rather dodge the Roentgen units in a hammock with a tropical drink. Can you do something to postpone the armageddon by 6 months or so?

[hill food]

hey if I had a hammock in the Caribbean and a plentiful supply of tropical drinks I'd say bring on the Roentgen Units. I'll be OK sooner or later either way.

[hill food]

nah, it would be good, just something I'd want to snarf in front of the TV. watching something like Cops only maybe on an International channel so I could also practice a bad accent of a foreign language.

[todao]

A high quality Swiss ...

[hill food]

none.

ok how about Taleggio, bit firmer and a lot footier than brie

[Veggo]

Havarti works also.

[Becca Porter]

provolone

[fourunder]

I concur.

[Mayor of Melonville]

+1

[lunchbox]

+1
But I would also support Fontina