Swiss Cheese in Poland

What is the name in Poland for the cheese that Americans know as Swiss? I have seen two types that look and taste quite similar - ementaler and mlekdamer - are either of these the Polish equivalent?

I Googled "mlekdamer" and came up with virtually nothing - any ideas what the English name might be for this cheese? Thanks!

Emmenthaler. Mlekdamer is an imitation Dutch Maasdamer that had to change its name on Poland's entry to the EU. The cheapest locally made Swiss-style stuff is often just called 'ser z dziurami'.

Try Masdamer. It's originally from Holland and is called Maasdammer there. It occupies almost 1/5 of their domestic production. Good choice of cheese :)

Thanks fellas - I'm using it to top french onion soup, so do you have any opinions about which type would work best? I imagine both would be acceptable, but I'm trying to be as authentic as possible without shelling out big bucks for gruyere.

Masdamer from Mlekovita should do the trick.

Gruyere is the obvious choice, but since it isn't cheap you could use a mix of Cheddar and Masdamer (Masdamer is a modern processed cheese which tastes ok but isn't so good at melting the way a more traditional cheese would - mix it with some real cheese if you use it) or a mix of a cheap Polish cheese (almost any except Ser Salami) and Parmesan.

There's a very cheap Lithuanian version of Parmesan called Dziugas which is in my opinion better than a cheap Parmesan - some supermarkets sell it in PL. You need something like that (and/or a strong Cheddar) to compensate for the low levels of Tyramine in Polish cheeses.

Carski is a hard, matured yellow cheese made in Hajnówka (I think). It very good grated over pasta, and although I haven't tried in with FO soup, I'm sure it would work well.

cheese for a soup topping? Make sure it's low fat. Cheddar and Swiss are too oily.

That's half the point of using it.

Gruyere is worth every zloty when you're making french onion soup. Nothing else comes close.

I picked some up today at Auchan - looking forward to tasting it. Thanks for the suggestion.


I'm a novice at preparing FO soup - perhaps when I master the recipe, I'll splurge for gruyere per your suggestion.

Remember to use your heaviest pan, at a very low heat for a very long time.

I finally finished the Parmesan cheese I had on hand and was able to crack open the Dziugas cheese today - it is wonderful! My roomie concurs. Thanks for the recommendation, Jonny!!!

The American cheese called Swiss is a generic cheese in that looks similar way to cheeses from Switzerland. So you aren't going to get an equivalent.