Raclette

I have a few friends who spent some time living in Europe; they are so worldy and I am so not! When I went to visit them upon their return I got to experience a little bit of European culture right in their Philly suburb. 


Raclette is both a specific type of cheese and a meal. Wikipedia can explain it a lot better than I can. What I can do is tell you about our meal and how much fun we had that evening. 


The table was set.

That odd-looking thing in the back of the table is the raclette grill. Apparently this is a common household appliance in parts of Switzerland and France. The bag in the middle of the table is full of a LOT of steamed potatoes.


So here's how it works. You put the grill where everyone can reach it. Then you put some slices of raclette on a paddle/spatula apparatus.

The spice on top is a spice made specifically for raclette. It is a combination of ground pepper, nutmeg, and some other things that I really couldn't figure out. Then, into the heat it goes!

This is community time. Time to sit around, drink wine, and chit-chat while dinner cooked away. It was a lot of fun. Cooking at the table makes dinner so much more social! In the meantime, prepare on your plate any potatoes, pickles, apples, onions, etc. that you wish to enjoy. Any charcuterie would be perfect with this.

Bubbly, hot, spicy...pull out your personal tray of heaven from the raclette grill and pour it over your dinner.

I will admit that the three of us spent well over an hour grilling cheese, chit chatting, drinking wine, and eating three pounds of boiled potatoes with creamy, spicy, nutty raclette all over them. 


Sort of the same theory as fondue, without the whole community pot of cheese. It really was fun and delicious. Thanks to my friends who introduced this to me; I hope we can do it again during my next visit!