Day 59: Raclette Cheese

Fall is here, and winter is approaching. So I decided to try out an old favourite of mine. Raclette is the perfect melting cheese. As I don't own a fondue set, or a raclette grill, I just take a ramekin and stick it in the oven beside whatever else I am cooking, and wait til it gets nice and bubbly. The ramekin keeps the heat so it stays warm long-ish, and I just take a knife and slather it on whatever you want.

The smell is a little bit strong at first, so be prepared (I'd be lying if I said it didn't at first remind me of feet). But if you can get over that, you get a nuttiness, you get a texture that is firm enough to perfectly yield to the tooth. You get raclette.

When I lived in France, this would be a special dish that we would eat in mid-afternoon, pre-dinner, and when guests arrive. We also had our own raclette grill that would keep it all nice and hot and bubbly until you were ready. Here in Canada, it's very affordable (a snack-size wedge will run you ~$5), and you can prepare it in the oven or even on a pan and then literally scrape it with a butter knife onto a toasted baguette, onto root vegetables, or if you are really hungry and short on time, just Melba toast or Paris toast.

On Raclette:

Raclette is both a type of cheese and a Swiss and French dish based on heating the cheese and scraping ("racler") off the melted part.Raclette is a semi-firm, cow's milk cheese - most commonly used for melting.

Raclette is also a dish indigenous to parts of Switzerland and the Savoy region of 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 word racler, meaning "to scrape". Traditionally, it is accompanied by small firm potatoes (Bintje, Charlotte or Raclette varieties), gherkins, pickled onions, and dried meat, such as jambon cru/cuit and viande des Grisons.

In the Swiss canton of Valais, raclette is typically served with tea or other warm beverages. Another popular option is to serve raclette with white wine, such as the traditional Savoy wine or Fendant, but Riesling and Pinot Gris are also common. Raclette was mentioned in medieval writings as a particularly nutritious meal consumed by peasants in mountainous Switzerland and France (Savoy region). 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 would 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 and charcuterie. 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.