While grocery shopping last week, I noticed a wheel of raclette cheese at the cheese counter. The sight of that cheese brought back warm memories of the first time I tasted it, during my time in France, with my host family gathered around the table on a cold winter’s night. The memory of raclette, the meal and the cheese, struck me as a great way to spend the holiday with family.
Raclette is a type of cow’s milk cheese from France and Switzerland. The cheese has a ripe scent and a mild flavor at room temperature. When melted, the scent can be very strong. The flavor also increases, but, if you are put off by strong cheese smells, don’t be in this case: the cheese flavor is subtle and complex when melted, much like other cheeses used for fondue.
Raclette is also the name of a traditional dish of those regions. In sum, the cheese is melted and scraped onto a plate of cooked potatoes, with cured meats and pickles (like gherkins and capers) on the side. Melting the cheese can be done in a variety of ways – traditionally the round of cheese was placed beside a fire and scraped onto potatoes as the surface melted. A more modern technique includes the use of a raclette party set which is a kind of hotplate that diners can cook foods on top of and melt cheese underneath in an individual non-stick tray (my French host family had one of these).
Without a fire or a raclette grill, however, you can just put slices of the cheese on a cookie sheet and heat in a conventional oven at up to 400 degrees. Just watch the cheese and when it is all melted, remove the tray from the oven and slide it over the potatoes, and eat immediately. The cheese will firm back up pretty quickly and while it will still be delicious as it cools, the signature flavor most noticeable when it is freshly melted. After cooking for days, an easy meal of raclette was a great way to get the family around the table without much effort.
Of course, with all the time we saved cooking by making raclette, we decided to whip up a batch of that Chain Letter Cinnamon bread, this time adding some nuts for decoration. We brought a starter with us down to Jen’s southern family and now, since it has split into four new starters, we can safely say that this Amish bread has invaded the South!
One year ago: Syrian Lemon and Olive Chicken
5 responses to “Raclette, a lesser-known melted cheese meal”
This post reminds me of my time in Switzerland. We have one of those Raclette sets that you mentioned, but we still have a hard time finding the right cheese. There is some raclette at the supermarket, but it just doesn’t taste quite the same. Where did you find the wheel?
I found the raclette at an upscale type supermarket in my neighborhood. If you’re in the New York area Fairway market often has a nice selection to try. Garden of Eden also tends to have a variety of raclettes for a bit cheaper.
Good points raised here, (well, what I could read of it). I am afflicted with color blindness (protanopia to be precise). I mostly use Opera browser (no idea if that is of any importance), and much of this webpage is a little difficult for me to read. I know that it is not your problem really, nonetheless it would be cool if you could consider color blind surfers whilst carrying out your next webpage re-working.
Looks yummy and easy to make, thanks for? the easy instructions…
Could you kindly translate your blog into Italian since I’m not so comfortable reading it in English? I’m getting tired of using Google Translate all the time, there is a handy WP plugin called like global translator which will translate all your pages automatically- that would make reading posts on your great blog even more cosy. Cheers dude, Rebekah Hollopeter!
Looks delicious. Can’t wait to try it.
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it.