Gruyere

Why gruyere is rated low

Gruyere is low FODMAP at any typical portion. It is a firm, long ripened alpine cheese, and that long ageing leaves very little milk sugar behind, so no FODMAP group reaches a meaningful level in it. A typical portion covers the grating over an omelette, the layer melted on top of a gratin and the slice eaten plain. Where Gruyere gets into trouble is company. It is a cheese that almost always arrives inside something, and the something is usually built on milk, bread or a garlic rubbed pot.

What changes your risk

• Serving size Any typical portion is low. Gruyere melts and browns so well that it is easy to pile on, so keep it to a normal grating or slice rather than a mound.
• The sauce it is melted into A classic cheese sauce is milk thickened, and ordinary milk is not low. The cheese being low does not make the sauce low, so a milk based bechamel needs its own thought, or a lactose free milk in its place.
• Fondue and gratin habits A fondue pot is traditionally rubbed with garlic and a gratin dish often gets the same treatment. The troublesome parts of garlic are water soluble and do not dissolve into oil, so garlic infused oil gives the flavour without them, but a whole garlic clove rubbed on the dish does not work that way.
• The bread underneath Gruyere is at its best on toast, in a croque monsieur or under an onion soup lid. Ordinary wheat bread and onion are the FODMAP load in those dishes, not the cheese, so swapping the base matters more than adjusting the cheese.
• Melting changes nothing Grilling, baking or melting Gruyere does not raise or lower its FODMAP content. Heat does not break FODMAPs down, and nothing leaves the cheese when it browns.

What else works

Cheddar, swiss and parmesan are all low FODMAP at a normal serve and stand in for Gruyere in most of its jobs, from grating over eggs to melting into a bake. The lookalikes to be careful with are the soft and fresh cheeses that sit near it on a cheese counter: ricotta, cottage cheese and cream cheese are not low at ordinary servings, and neither is ordinary milk, cream or ice cream. For the sauce side of a Gruyere dish, lactose free milk is the useful swap: it is ordinary dairy with the lactase enzyme added rather than a dairy free product, so it is not suitable for a milk allergy. Gluten free bread makes the croque monsieur or the soup lid work without the wheat.

How to keep it low

Buy Gruyere as a block and grate it yourself rather than buying a shredded bag or a pre mixed fondue blend, since blends can carry seasoning you would otherwise have to read for. Wrapped in paper and kept in the fridge it holds well, and grating from cold gives the neatest control over how much goes on. When you are making a gratin, build the sauce on lactose free milk and flavour the dish with garlic infused oil rather than rubbing the dish with a clove. Melt it over potato, polenta or gluten free bread rather than a wheat baguette, and when a restaurant menu says French onion soup, the onion is the part to ask about, not the cheese.

Common questions

how much gruyere can you eat on a low fodmap diet

Any typical portion is low, enough to grate over eggs or melt over a gratin. A normal helping is the amount to work to.

is gruyere ok during the elimination phase

Yes. At any typical portion it is low and can stay in the elimination phase, although the dish it arrives in, such as a milk based sauce or a garlic rubbed gratin, may need changing.

what about a cheese sauce made with gruyere

The cheese is low, but a sauce built on ordinary milk is not. Making the sauce with lactose free milk keeps the dish in low FODMAP territory, and lactose free milk is ordinary dairy with lactase added rather than a dairy free product.

what is a good swap for gruyere

Cheddar, swiss and parmesan are all low FODMAP and melt or grate well enough to cover most of what Gruyere is used for.