For a fondue, an onion soup or anything French that melts Alpine cheese, buy Swiss Gruyère, mixed with Emmental. Gruyère is sold in wedges at Walmart and at Metro's deli cheese counter, and Emmental at Walmart. Between them they cover most recipes that call for Beaufort, Comté or Emmental.
The French cheeses that are hard to replace are the young, soft ones: Reblochon for tartiflette, tomme fraîche for aligot, fromage blanc, and raclette out of season. For those, Quebec's Oka and plain Canadian cheese curds do most of the work.
As an Alsatian, the cheese I miss most is Munster, and some shops here do sell it. Cheesy Place, a Toronto cheese shop that ships across Canada, has Munster from Alsace in 200 g wheels, so a French or European cheese shop is the first place to ask.
Don't mistake it for the Muenster in big supermarkets: that's a mild American cheese with none of the Alsatian smell. When I can't get the real one, I use Oka, a washed-rind cheese like Munster but milder, and easy to find in a supermarket's specialty cheese case.
Which cheese for fondue savoyarde?
A Savoyard fondue is traditionally Beaufort, Comté and Emmental. Beaufort is hard to find here, so build the pot on Swiss Gruyère and Emmental, half and half, and swap Comté in for part of the Gruyère when your store has it. Count about 200 g of cheese per person: 800 g for four, as in the fondue savoyarde recipe.
- Swiss Gruyère: Emmi Gruyère (150 g) at Walmart, Le Superbe Le Gruyère (195 g, raw milk, aged 5 months) at Metro.
- Emmental: Président Emmental from France (220 g wedge) at Walmart.
- Comté: Président Comté Le Montarlier (340 g, aged 6 months) at Walmart and Costco; Fort des Rousses Comté aged 6 or 12 months at Metro.
In Quebec, Metro also carries Frère Jacques, a Swiss-style firm cheese from the Saint-Benoît-du-Lac abbey, which can stand in for the Emmental. Buy wedges and grate or cube them yourself: pre-shredded cheese is coated with an anti-caking powder that can make a fondue grainy.
What to melt on gratins, croque-monsieur and onion soup
For French onion soup, use Gruyère: it browns into a crust and stays nutty under the broiler. For a galette complète, Emmental or Gruyère, grated from the block.
For croque-monsieur, grate Emmental from the wedge: it's what French supermarkets sell grated for croques, mild, stretchy and good at browning. For endives au jambon, Oka is the Canadian answer: it melts smoothly into béchamel and browns in spots, and Walmart and Sobeys both stock it. It's softer and stronger than Gruyère, so trim the rind and grate it cold.
Skip mild cheddar and mozzarella blends. Cheddar turns greasy and slides off, and mozzarella goes rubbery without browning.
Which cheese melts like Reblochon?
Oka. It's a washed-rind cheese from Quebec with the same orange rind and farmyard smell, though firmer and stronger than Reblochon, which is a young raw-milk cheese that rarely makes it to Canadian shelves. Keep the rind on, as you would with Reblochon, and add a splash of 35% cream so it melts as loose.
My pick for tartiflette here is Oka Original, the younger Oka rather than the aged one, because it melts more evenly. Nobody who grew up on Reblochon will mistake it for the real thing, but the dish still tastes like a tartiflette: smoky bacon, soft potatoes and a cheese that runs down through them.
Oka Original comes in 190 g pieces at Walmart and Sobeys, and Sobeys also sells Oka Classique by weight. A tartiflette for six takes about 450 g, so buy three 190 g pieces or one cut of that weight.
Raclette: what to buy, and how much
Raclette cheese is seasonal here, roughly October to February. In season, look for sliced raclette in trays, like Monsieur Gustav Trio Raclette (300 g, lactose-free) at Metro and Walmart, or a 400 g piece of Swiss raclette at Costco. In Quebec, Metro's deli also cuts Oka Raclette and Raclette des Appalaches by weight.
Count about 200 g per person when the meal is cheese, potatoes and charcuterie: 1.2 kg for the six in the raclette recipe. Out of season, Oka Original melts well under a raclette grill; it's stronger, so put out more potatoes and cornichons with it.
Fresh curds for aligot
Aligot needs tomme fraîche de l'Aubrac, a young, barely pressed curd that stretches into long ribbons. Canadian cheese curds are the same idea: fresh cheddar curds, sold for poutine. Walmart carries several brands (Saputo Kingsey, Black River and its own Your Fresh Market), and Sobeys sells St-Albert curds in 400 g bags.
Curds lose their squeak in the fridge, so buy the newest date and take them out an hour before cooking so they melt evenly. The aligot recipe pairs 350 g of curds with 150 g of Gruyère, which brings back the depth tomme fraîche has and curds lack.
What about fromage blanc?
Fromage blanc has no supermarket match here. Quark, its closest cousin, is made by a few Canadian dairies but isn't a grocery staple.
For tarte flambée or a dip, blend full-fat ricotta with 14% sour cream, half and half, until smooth. Tre Stelle ricotta (280 g tub) is at Sobeys. For the cream side of the same dishes, see crème fraîche in Canada.
Can you bring cheese back from France?
Yes, for your own use, within limits that depend on the cheese (raw milk or pasteurized), the amount and the current animal-health rules for France, which change. Check the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Canada Border Services Agency pages before you fly, and see the guide to bringing food back from France.
