What to know about raclette, a French cheese drizzled over food

Carol Deptolla, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·4 min read

Raclette's name comes from racler, the French word meaning to scrape. That's because a cut wheel of easy-to-melt raclette traditionally is exposed to heat and the melted cheese then scraped from the wheel and onto boiled red potatoes, say, or over baguette.

In France, Orphee Paillotin said, some families will have a raclette heater that's a heating element with a grill top for vegetables or meats and small trays below it, onto which everyone slides a slice of raclette to melt.

"Everyone can pretty much cook their own cheese and talk to each other. You can’t watch TV, you have to talk to each other," said Paillotin, owner of Alpinage Artisan Cheese. "You can use a raclette melter and have fun. It’s also very easy to eat."

Raclette melters are sold online through Amazon and other sources. But at least one shop in metro Milwaukee rents a melter.

RELATED: In a cheese cave in Oak Creek, Alpinage is aging Wisconsin-made raclette

Sabina Magyar, owner of the Village Cheese Shop in Wauwatosa, rents out another style of raclette heater for use at home, a sort that restaurants often use. A quarter or half wheel is secured on a platform under a heating element, and cheese is scraped off as it melts.  (West Allis Cheese and Sausage at the Milwaukee Public Market uses a heater with a similar design to melt raclette for menu items.)

"It’s fun. It’s a party," Magyar said. "Sit around and make some bites and drink some wine and talk, and sit around and make some bites and drink some wine and talk."

The Village Cheese rental, at $125 for two to three days, comes with a party kit: 3 pounds of cheese, baby potatoes to boil, baguette, cornichons and Italian herbed ham. It's portioned for six to eight people.

At restaurants and shops, half wheels of raclette are melted under a heating element. Then, as cheesemonger Mirella Barajas shows at West Allis Cheese and Sausage Shoppe at the Milwaukee Public Market, the melted cheese is scraped off to be eaten. Raclette's name comes from the French word racler, meaning to scrape.
At restaurants and shops, half wheels of raclette are melted under a heating element. Then, as cheesemonger Mirella Barajas shows at West Allis Cheese and Sausage Shoppe at the Milwaukee Public Market, the melted cheese is scraped off to be eaten. Raclette's name comes from the French word racler, meaning to scrape.

Under the heating element, "the cheese gets crusty, and it’s beautiful," said Magyar.

She likes raclette best on crusty baguette — "I could eat that every day," she said —accompanied by cornichons and mustard, and with Italian herbed ham. "I love fondue, but I really like raclette," she said.

Magyar has known Alpinage's Paula Heimerl for years, since Heimerl's family operated Saxon Creamery and Magyar worked in the cheese department at Glorioso's Italian Market in Milwaukee. Heimerl also worked at Village Cheese for a time.

Melting it over potatoes isn't the only way to eat raclette.

Griddling it in a grilled cheese sandwich is a quick option, or melting it over toast in the oven. Slices or shreds of raclette can simply be placed over boiled potatoes in a hot oven to melt, or used in baked pastas.

"It’s going to be great on a burger, on your house-made pizza. But it’s great as a standalone cheese," Magyar said.

"It’s a cheese first, and then a melting cheese," she said.

Part of Alpinage's aim was to make its raclette a table cheese, one that can be eaten in slices or cubes with crusty bread and apples, or laid on a cracker or a sandwich.

Raclette cheeses made in Switzerland and in France are distinct from each other, and the raclette made by Alpinage differs somewhat from both.

"I would say I’m making a U.S. style," Paillotin said. "I’m very happy to be in America."

Wanting to make cheese that appeals to American tastes, Paillotin said he made Alpinage "less stinky" than European raclette. (Magyar described it as more buttery.)

But, like European raclette, it's cheese that melts well because of its 1-to-1 fat to protein ratio. “It’s the whole point of raclette,” he said.

"The flavor becomes a bit more enhanced when it’s heated and pulls all those other ingredients together," Magyar said.

For customers looking for wine pairings, Magyar recommends wines similar to ones she'd suggest for fondue — white wines such as vin de savoie, from the French Alps, or dry Riesling, with more body and crispness. For red wine drinkers, she suggests gamay, for its juiciness and acidity.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about raclette, a French cheese drizzled over food