Raclette

How to Cook Raclette

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1. Scrub the potatoes and boil them whole in heavily salted water for 20 minutes until a knife slides in easily. Drain and keep them warm in a covered dish.

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2. Arrange the cornichons, onions, ham (if using), mushrooms and peppers in separate bowls on the table.

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3. Heat the raclette grill, or set the half wheel under its heater, 15 minutes before you plan to eat.

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4. Melt the cheese in rounds — a slice per pan under the grill, or the cut face of the wheel until the surface bubbles and slumps.

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5. Scrape or tip the molten cheese straight onto a plate of hot potatoes, crushing them lightly with a fork first so the cheese gets in.

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6. Grind black pepper over and dust with paprika. Eat immediately, while the next round melts.

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7. Keep going in rounds until everyone stops. Drink kirsch or white wine, not water — the local rule is that cold water sets the cheese in your stomach.

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Related guide: Ingredient substitutions.

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What Can Go Wrong

1. Waxy potatoes, boiled whole in salty water and kept hot.
2. Melt in rounds, not all at once. Cheese that waits goes oily.
3. Crush the potato before the cheese lands so it soaks in.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• A dry vermouth keeps for longer than an open bottle of white wine and is the closer swap than a random white left in the fridge; for an alcohol-free version, use the same amount of stock with a squeeze of lemon.

The Short Version

Raclette works because the cheese arrives at the plate at the moment it stops being solid and before it starts to split, which is a window of about thirty seconds — so it is served in rounds rather than all at once. Waxy potatoes hold their shape under all that fat where floury ones collapse into it.

To Go With It

A dry Swiss white wine · Kirsch · A green salad with sharp vinaigrette

Storing Leftovers

Wrap leftover cheese well and refrigerate 1 week. Leftover potatoes make an excellent rösti.

Raclette Nutrition

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

Vegetarian when made without the air-dried ham.

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