Everything about Raclette totally explained
Raclette is both a type of
cheese and, informally, a dish featuring the cheese.
The cheese
Traditional
Raclette is a semi-firm, salted cheese made from
cow's
milk. However, varieties exist made with white wine, pepper, herbs, or smoked. The cheese originated in the
Swiss canton of
Valais, but is today also produced in the
French regions of
Savoie and
Franche-Comté.
The cheese is usually fashioned into a
round of about 6 kg (13 lb).
The dish
Raclette is also a dish indigenous to parts of
Switzerland,
Wallonia and
France. The Raclette cheese round is heated, either in front of a fire or by a special machine, then scraped onto diners' plates; the term
raclette derives from the French
racler, meaning "to scrape". Traditionally, it's accompanied by small firm
potatoes (Bintje, Charlotte or Raclette varieties),
gherkins,
pickled onions, dried meat, such as
prosciutto and
viande des Grisons, sliced peppers, tomato, onion, mushrooms, pears, and dusted with paprika and fresh-ground black pepper.
In the Swiss canton of
Valais, raclette is typically eaten with tea or other warm beverages, or with a type of white wine called
Fendant, made from the Chasselas grape. Drinking water along with your raclette is said to interfere with the digestion of the cheese, although this is likely an
old wives' tale as there's no scientific basis for this. It is normally accompanied by a white wine, such as the traditional
Savoie wine, a
Riesling or a
Pinot Gris.
Raclette was mentioned in medieval writings as a particularly nutritious meal consumed by peasants in mountainous Switzerland. It was then known in the German-speaking part of Switzerland as
Bratchäs, or "roasted cheese." Traditionally, the Swiss cow herders used to take the cheese with them when they were moving cows to or from the pastures up in the mountains. In the evenings around the
campfire, they'd place the cheese next to the fire and, when it had reached the perfect softness, scrape it on top of some bread.
A modern way of serving raclette involves an electric table-top grill with small 'pans', known as
coupelles, to heat slices of raclette cheese in. Generally the grill is surmounted by a hot plate or griddle. The cheese is brought to the table sliced, accompanied by platters of boiled or steamed potatoes, other vegetables,
charcuterie, and perhaps seafood. Diners create their own small packages of food by cooking small amounts of meat, vegetables and seafood on the griddle. These are then mixed with potatoes and topped with cheese in the small, wedge-shaped coupelles that are placed under the grill to melt and brown the cheese. Alternatively, slices of cheese may be melted and simply poured over food on the plate. The accent in raclette dining is on relaxed and sociable eating and drinking, the meal often running to several hours. French and other European supermarkets generally stock both the grill apparatus and ready-sliced cheese and charcuterie selections for use with it. Restaurants also provide raclette evenings for parties of diners.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Raclette'.
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