Raclette is a perennial favorite Swiss dish, and unlike the fondue which is considered a winter dish, the Raclette is considered appropriate for year around consumption. Perhaps because of it's origins as a picnic food. The semi-hard cheese is easy to transport thus it was a meal enjoyed by shepherds in the mountains. The cheese was cooked over a campfire and then the melted cheese scraped onto whatever the shepherds had on hand.
Raclette is over 700 years old and has not changed over the years. Raclette was first made in the Canton of Valais, home of the Matterhorn. It uses unpasteurized milk, characteristic of all the best cheeses, and due to it's balanced fat content lends itself perfectly to melting, not becoming oily or separating. (credits to E-how).
We have not enjoyed Raclette on the Ranch as long as our favorite, fondue. The Raclette can be cooked by a fire, which we have done, but it is more effective to use an electric grill especially made for Raclette. These grills are now readily available in Canada, but our first grill was a gift to my parents from family in Switzerland many years ago. It still works perfectly. When we moved to our current home in 1993 we were not here very long when my father came over and added an electrical socket, 220, which allowed us to use the Raclette machine.
I do believe that my father considered us to be valuable additions to the Ranch and meant for us to stay here. The strongest demonstation of this intention was when my father assisted in moving our home into the middle of what was once the barnyard, enabling us to be close to the cows. We endured the odor and the flies because of the convenience of having the livestock so close. I feel safe in assuming that he installed the electrical outlet as he wanted to enjoy Raclette in our home. These material symbols of culture and family are powerful. The cow bells are another one of the ties to Switzerland that my father enjoyed sharing with us. He often discussed how we could better display them. He favored hanging the bells on a wrought iron bar over the mantlepiece, unfortunately like so many wonderful ideas it has not yet come to fruition.
Raclette becomes more about the people and the place than a meal. I have some incredibly memorable Raclette meals but when I went back to find the photos I did not find the meal, but only the vista. Raclette, the cheese, is easy to find in Canada, but very expensive. We only purchase small pieces of it. One of my mountain Raclette meals, near Verbier, was made using an entire wheel of Raclette. The cheese was stored in the cold room between use. My family used the fireplace in their mountain chalet to melt the cheese. It was a wonderful meal with my cousins and my Aunt, that due to the slowness of melting the cheese, went on for some time.
This summer I again enjoyed Raclette with family, this time in France, who seem to have happily adopted the Swiss dish. We stayed in a bed and breakfast that felt more like a visit with family. In fact our hosts did have two children who were very adorable.
At the guest house below the village of Megeve.
Raclette is classically served with potatoes, dried meats and pickles. We find that the addition of fresh vegetables is delicious. The family that I stayed with in France also served the Raclette with fresh vegetables which reassured me that we had not swayed too far from the recipe.
Every trip I make back to Switzerland the family endeavors to serve either a fondue or a raclette. It is wonderful to be able to share these family recipes with our loved ones back in Canada. It makes the distance between the countries smaller.
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