French soup cheese

Question

Growing up, I got to visit France quite a bit. One thing I remember eating quite a lot was fish soup (or soupe de poisson), and it was customary to add a grated cheese to it which would melt partially, going very stringy.

What cheese(s) was this likely to be?

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered May 13 '19 at 14:51

5

It is common to eat 'soupe de poissons' with emmental.

answered May 13 '19 at 14:51

NonoG

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Not my forté really, but I've seen it with Gruyère or even Comté. – Tetsujin May 13 '19 at 15:02
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It could be, but they get much less stringy when melted, so I think it is more likely it was emmental. – NonoG May 13 '19 at 15:08
I've looked on google images, it does look like it is Emmental I'm thinking of, I'll buy some and try it in the soup tonight and get back to you – adickinson May 13 '19 at 15:11
Tried it last night, was what I remember from my childhood, so accepting as the answer, thanks so much – adickinson May 14 '19 at 08:29

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered May 16 '19 at 01:35

I am French, and my mother used to cook delicious soupe de poissons...but still one of the best complementary cheese for any soup is aged parmesan...

but french people are more likely to use their own cheeses (believing that their cheeses are the best in the world, and the only ones worth using), so, no, not likely to be Emmental since that´s more of a Swiss cheese (though I have seen it used as well as Dutch Edam)

more typically gruyere is used since some of it is produced in France and is much more available in local supermarkets, but sometimes they use other, often soft-paste french cheeses for the soup including all the classics for a cheese fondue savoyarde

French soup cheese

2 Answers2