What is raclette?
A short history of the cheese we scrape for a living.
The short answer
Raclette is an Alpine cheese that's made to be melted. The name comes from the French racler, to scrape. You hold the cut face of the wheel to the heat, wait for it to bubble, and scrape it onto your plate.
Where it comes from
The story goes that mountain herders in the Alps were melting cheese by the fire centuries ago while they minded their flocks. Today it's a classic of the French Alps, especially the Savoie and Haute-Savoie, and the Swiss have a claim to it too. It's a winter dish, built for cold evenings, apres ski and big appetites.
How it's made
Raclette is a cow's-milk cheese, pressed into large wheels and matured for weeks until it's firm enough to slice and soft enough to melt properly. The result is creamy, a little nutty and a bit funky, and it melts without turning greasy.
How it's traditionally eaten
Potatoes boiled in their skins, charcuterie, cornichons, small pickled onions and a green salad, with a dry white wine if you like. The best bit is the crisp, golden crust that forms on the cut face of the wheel as it's scraped, and people argue over who gets it.
How I do it
I serve it from The Raclette Bar, a converted 1980 horse trailer. The cheese comes from the Savoie and Haute-Savoie in the French Alps, in 8kg wheels. I put half a wheel under the grill and scrape it over new potatoes and cornichons, or over rosemary fries and onion gravy. Both menus are gluten-free and vegetarian, and smoked French sausage is optional.
See the menu or send me an enquiry.
