Scientist's 'Perfect' Cheese Sandwich

BBC Radio News, October 2003

A scientist has created the perfect sandwich - thanks to a 2.8-millimetre slice of Cheddar cheese.

Dr Len Fisher discovered that to ensure the best flavour, different cheeses must be sliced to different thicknesses.

Dr Fisher, of the University of Bristol, revealed that to ensure optimum 'cheesiness', Cheddar should be 2.8 millimetres thick, while Caerphilly should measure 4.5 millimetres, and Blue Stilton three millimetres.

Sandwiches should be made with a light spreading of butter or margarine, which enhance the aroma of the cheese.

Flavour enhanced

And other foods - such as tomatoes, apple or pickle - added to a cheese sandwich can have an effect on its 'cheesiness'.

Dr Fisher said: "The 'cheesiest' cheese - the one with most total flavour - is Wensleydale, but the most effective cheese - the best one at releasing its flavour - is West Country Cheddar.

Margarine or butter - it doesn't matter which - should always be used - we think the oils in them hold the aromas on the tongue in the same way milk in tea does."

Dr Fisher, the author of 'How to Dunk a Doughnut: The Science of Everyday Life', has previously calculated the best type of bread with which to mop up gravy.

And in 1999 he was awarded the Ig Nobel prize for physics for his work on the ideal way to dunk a biscuit in a mug of tea.

He was commissioned to find the perfect cheese sandwich recipe by the British Cheese Council.

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