Everything You Need to Know About Raclette
What is raclette? We describe it as hibachi mixed with fondue.
What is raclette though, really? It comes from the French word that means “to scrape” and refers to both the type of cheese and the traditional Swiss dish it is served with. According to Emmi, the dish originated hundreds of years ago when farmers would heat up a piece of cheese over the open fire for a hearty and filling meal.
Raclette is still produced with milk from cows that are fed fresh grass in the summer and meadow hay in the winter, resulting in an aromatic cheese which results in a variety of flavors depending on the wheel.
My raclette is probably about 10 years old and I couldn’t find it on Amazon. This one would be similar, while this is a more traditional appliance (scraping an actual wheel of cheese over your food).
Ingredients
Cheese (thinly sliced) - best types are Raclette, Emmantal, Gruyere, Fontina, Appenzeller.
Beef filet, thinly sliced and seasoned with salt/pepper or your favorite seasoning
Chicken breasts, thinly sliced and seasoned with salt/pepper or your favorite seasoning
Raw shrimp
Vegetables (pre-roasted) - mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, fingerling potatoes
Herb butter - soften some butter then add salt, pepper, and whatever fresh or dried herbs you have (I like to use parsley and rosemary)
French bread, sliced
What To Do/Some Notes
Most prep for this will be slicing the meat and cheese and cooking whatever veggies you want on the side.
It’s best to have at least one cheese pan per guest (it’s hard to get more than 6 people around a table to do this but it’s possible).
It’s best to have a few small plates of cheese that way you don’t have to keep asking for one plate to be passed around.
Make sure you keep the meats on separate plates and use designated forks since it will all be raw and you don’t want to cross-contaminate.
What I like to do is prepare all my veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper then roast them as soon as guests arrive which takes about 15-20 minutes or so at a 425* oven. Serve some (non-cheese) appetizers.
