It’s time for raclette
Move over cheese fondue, it’s time for raclette. In Switzerland and France, people are flocking to the Alpine dish featuring melted mountain cheese as its main ingredient, but here it’s far less popular. Incomprehensible, because raclette has everything you need in winter: comfort, a layer of fat and conviviality.
Raclette is the name of a dry red-smear cheese from the Swiss and French mountains, which is rubbed with a kind of moss—a combination of red-smear bacteria and aged cheese. This creates a culture on the rind that protects the cheese from spoiling. Because the cheese is pressed and the curd isn’t rinsed with hot water, it retains a semi-soft texture that melts exceptionally well.
Racler literally means to scrape in French, so during ‘racletting’ you scrape melted cheese onto your plate. Are you a beginner? Then go for classic raclette cheese, which can be Swiss or French. For several years, the name of the raclette from the Swiss canton of Valais was protected, but that has not been the case since 2007.
The classic method
Raclette, the smoky and traditional variety, is traditionally melted in a steel pan and grilled beneath hot coals. According to Larousse, the cheese tastes best when it is roasted over a charcoal fire. The melted gold is then served straight onto the plate, over charcuterie such as boiled and smoked ham or Coppa, pickles and potatoes boiled in their skins.
Pair it with something light
The dish is quite heavy, so you’ll want to drink something light alongside it that lifts the cheese a little. Chignin from Savoie is perfect, as it is incredibly fresh and completely dry: like mountain water. A white Savoie Apremont, a fresh, dry and pure wine with subtle aromas of flowers, grass and plenty of minerality, is another excellent option.
Would you like to make raclette at home, but don’t have an electric raclette machine or another heater? You can also melt the cheese, cut into thin slices, in a small gourmet pan. Otherwise, you can purchase a professional cheese melter, such as this one. No need to leave the house, of course. At Bistro des Alpes, a French bistro on Utrechtsedwarsstraat in Amsterdam, you can enjoy the classic Alpine experience. They serve dishes such as cheese fondue, tartiflette and raclette. The cheese and charcuterie used in the dishes come directly from farmers in Savoie.
With thanks to: Kaashandel Kef, Bistro des Alpes, Larousse
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