La Raclette!​—From Mountain Height to Dinner Table

By Awake! correspondent in Switzerland

IT IS said that one day about the year 1875, some men were working in a vineyard close to the Swiss town of Sierre. It was very cold. At noon they gathered around the fire to have some bread, cheese, and wine. One of them craved something warm to eat. So he placed his piece of cheese over the embers until the outer layer started to melt. He then scraped it on his bread and​—la raclette was born!

There are other versions of this story. Although its origin may not be well documented, la raclette is indeed a well-established dish, especially in the mountainous region of Valais in Switzerland. The French word racler means “to scrape,” and it appropriately describes this unusual way of serving melted cheese. But even more unusual is the way raclette cheese is made.

Cheese Made on the Spot

When summer arrives in Valais, the retreating snow gives way to lush pasture grounds. The cows relish this feed, and moving upward, they graze pasture after pasture up to the very edge of the glaciers. In the past, storing the milk or transporting it down to the valley twice a day for processing was out of the question. So the solution was to make the cheese right there, on the spot. Yes, cheese was made outdoors wherever the herd was. How?

A big caldron, a strainer, wood for the fire, and other necessary implements were transported on horseback or on mules up to the location. Stones for building a fireplace were selected from the surrounding area. The cream was not removed from the milk, and the result was a smooth and rich cheese.

Today, cheese makers in the Valais region do not have to do their work outdoors. They continue to make cheese on the spot, but for their cheese making, they now enjoy the convenience of cabins that have been built at various altitudes. Each cabin has all the necessary equipment permanently installed and a cellar where fresh cheese is treated with a salt solution to give it its protective crust. The cheese is shaped in the form of a wheel, each wheel weighing about 11 pounds [5 kg]. After some three to five months, the cheese wheels are considered mature.

Serving la Raclette

Traditionally, la raclette is served with boiled potatoes, pickles, small white onions, pepper and other spices, and, of course, a glass of white wine from Valais. If you order the dish in a restaurant, a waiter will bring to your table half a wheel of cheese with its side layer already bubbling from being heated. He then scrapes off some of that delicious-looking layer and places it on your potato!

At home you can use an electric raclette stove. Some are designed to melt cheese in small portions, and others are big enough to accommodate up to a half wheel of cheese. Of course, you need not have a special raclette stove. You can melt the slices of cheese in your kitchen oven.

Many offer this dish to their guests because of its wide popularity and simplicity. So next time you have friends for dinner, why not try this unique meal from the mountains of Switzerland: la raclette!

[Pictures on page 26]

La raclette: an unusual way to serve melted cheese

Making the cheese

Some things that go with “la raclette”

Serving “la raclette”