h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The best way to cut cheese is with a sharp knife. I doesn't matter if it is serrated or not. A simple steady, downwards motion gives the best result.
The best way to cut bread is with a sawing action of a serrated knife.
It is quite easy to do both of these, but how do you cut a cheese sandwich? This has been bothering me for some time now. If you just push the knife downwards, as for cheese, you will only rip or compress the bread. If you saw at it, as for bread, you will pull the cheese slice out of the sandwich. The simple answer is to leave a gap in hte middle of the sandwich between two slices of cheese and cut there. But what about those of us who like a more intense, full of cheese sanwich? Or those (not me) who cut their sandwiches diagonnally? Any suggestions to this one of life's more problematic lunches?

Your delema is one of great importance!
I will research your problem and get right back to you

It all depends on the type of bread.

For sliced pan, you use a sharp, non-serrated knife; cut through the crust at the edge of your sandwich with a sawing motion, then cut the sandwich (diagonally or otherwise) with a sort of rocking motion, not quite sawing (to avoid snagging the cheese) but not simply pressing (so as not to squish the bread); finish with a short sawing motion to cut the crust on the other side.

For home-made bread, soda bread etc (anything more solid than sliced pan), you use a sharp serrated knife and the same sort of rocking motion, this time with a bit more sawing to get through the more substantial bread. Using cheese straight from the fridge helps with this type of bread; it's harder to slice initially, but it and the bread should both break fairly easily under the knife. You can always let the cheese warm slightly before eating.

In either case, the trick is not to try to cut across the whole width of the sandwich at once. Start at one edge and work your way across.

Hope these pointers help. For further information refer to Arthur Dent, sandwich-maker extraordinaire, currently believed to be wandering in one of the Plural Z Alpha sectors. Although he made them with slices of Perfectly Normal Beast, not cheese.

(I can't believe I've spent half my lunchtime talking about the finer points of cheese sandwich cutting. I'm not even having cheese sandwiches for lunch. )

Cut the bread and cheese into the appropriate sized pieces (using different knives) before combining them.

'Thursday' You my friend are a genius!

Thanks!

You speak of cheese sandwiches in the abstract, as it were of no importance the cheese variety and the type of bread. This, my friend, is not so. One correspondent has discussed bread, but none has yet taken account of the cheese.

From my knowledge of your disposition and eating habits, I make the assumption the Cheddar was the cheese you had in mind when first you propounded the question here under consideration. This is important, as the behaviour of Cheddar is quite distinct to that of, for example, Philadelphia. Even Emental and Edam, though of a similar consistency to Cheddar, will cut differently. In a truly scientific enquiry all variables must be controlled.

Cheddar usually comes in blocks which have considerably less cross-sectional area than a standard slice of bread (sliced pan, as we call it in Ireland). Two slices of Cheddar can be cut and placed on the slice of buttered bread. Another buttered slice is placed atop this. The whole is then cut between the two slices of cheese, so only the bread need be taken into account. It is, in these circumstances, perfectly acceptable to saw.

(Philadelphia would be spread across the entire surface of the bread and does have an effect on cutting, but this effect is miniscule. The problems arise only with cheeses like Edam and Emental which do not come in standard sizes. With these the suggestion of another correspondent to cut them to size beforehand may be adopted and is, in fact, recommended.)

TRiG.

On the topic of cheeses, I offer the following advice:

If using Greek Feta, Haloume or Telemes, cut the cheese into roughly 5mm slices to make the sandwich. If using a hard greek cheese you may be better off grating it; soft greek cheeses should be spread.

Haloume is best eaten with watermelon, not bread.

You have a good point there...

...and feta is best eaten in a salad or in cooked food.

"Cut the sandwhiches into triangles, Jane; we are not barbarians."

But I am!

As I was walking by St Pauls
A woman grabbed me by the elbow

She said 'You look a man of pluck
Why not come here and have a cheese sandwich?

Some are a tenner and some are a bob
It all depends on the size of the cheese sandwich'.

Disclaimer:
This sheds no light whatsoever on the subject at hand.