Raclette

A cut face of cheese melted on its own and scraped straight onto the plate, with nothing mixed into it at all.

Pork, Beef. Not vegetarian — contains beef, cheese whose rennet the source does not name, pork.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg raclette cheese, in slices or a half wheel
• 1.5 kg small waxy potatoes
• 300 g cured ham and air-dried beef
• cornichons
• pickled onions
• coarse salt and black pepper

Method

1. NOTHING IS MIXED INTO IT AND NO WINE GOES NEAR IT. This is the difference from the fondue on this site and it is the whole character of the dish. There is no emulsion to make and nothing to split: the cheese is melted on its own and scraped off, and it tastes of exactly one thing. Which also means the cheese has nowhere to hide, so it is the only decision that matters here.
2. THE POTATOES ARE BOILED IN THEIR SKINS AND KEPT HOT. Peeled, they go watery and cool fast; in their skins they hold heat and the cheese sets on a warm potato instead of seizing on a cold one. A covered dish or a low oven for the whole meal.
3. ONLY THE CUT FACE IS MELTED, and it is melted until it bubbles and browns at the edge. Half-melted, it is greasy and bland; properly blistered, it is nutty. If you have a half wheel under a grill, the face is scraped off each time it is ready and the wheel goes back.
4. IT IS SCRAPED ONTO THE PLATE, NOT POURED. One portion at a time, straight from the heat onto the potatoes, and eaten before the next is ready. Raclette left standing on a plate for two minutes is rubber.
5. AND THE PICKLES ARE NOT A GARNISH. A kilo of melted cheese needs sharp things against it; cornichons and pickled onions are what make a second helping possible.
6. Potatoes scrubbed and boiled whole in well-salted water 20 to 25 minutes until tender. Drained and kept covered in a warm place.
7. Ham and dried beef arranged on a board and left at room temperature 20 minutes, which is when cured meat tastes of most.
8. Cornichons and onions into small bowls.
9. Plates WARMED. Cold plates set the cheese in seconds.
10. The grill or raclette machine brought up to full heat.
11. A slice of cheese in each tray, or the cut face of the wheel under the element.
12. Melted 3 to 5 minutes until bubbling and browning at the edges.
13. Scraped straight over a split hot potato, and eaten at once with the meats, the pickles, salt and a lot of pepper.
14. Repeated as long as anybody is still eating, which is generally the point of the evening.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under France · All recipes