Raclette

Cheese (and carb) lovers, rejoice – raclette season is officially here! Derived from the French verb *’racler’ meaning ‘to scrape’, the ultimate comfort dish features oozy, melted cheese scraped with a spatula onto boiled potatoes with pickles and cured meats often served as sides.  

An alpine specialty, raclette is believed to have originated in the canton of Valais in Switzerland way back in the Middle Ages. However, other *fromage fancying nations have adopted the traditional dish with gusto – including France.  

While the dish was originally made fireside, today many heat their cheese to scrape-ready, melted perfection on a raclette grill. As for the cheese, the authentic choice is Swiss raclette cheese – a semi-hard cow’s milk cheese. However, Gruyère, Comté and Gouda will also work if that’s what you have *dans le frigo.

*to scrape | *cheese | *in the fridge