Swiss cheese.

And I’m back! It is a New Year, and snow has descended upon Paris to the great delight and simultaneous exasperation of Parisians (the métro inevitably has major issues if it snows), and I would like to share with you a little holiday tradition I have with my boyfriend.

Every year, sometime in December (this year right before New Year’s Eve), we have Raclette at home. Notice how I say we “have” Raclette, not "cook", because there is nothing really to cook. Some years back, he was gifted a Raclette griddle that we take out once a year, dust off, and use to grill cheese to our heart’s content.

The first time I ever had Raclette was thanks to him; one day, he had surprised me with a huge spread to celebrate a work success when I came back from the office. I was beyond happy to eat nothing but melted cheese for the night (he even went so far as to pick up a lovely little Savoie white, which is the only reasonable wine pairing). 

So what is Raclette? The only thing you really need to know is that it is a melted cheese dish. According to Wikipedia, it has Swiss origins and can be traced back to Swiss convents as early as 1291.

Whatever. Did I mention it is melted cheese?

As mentioned in my previous blog, you can typically find it all over European Christmas markets as a more “street food” type dish, melted over bread. It has also completely taken over social media, with videos of the gooey cheese being scraped over plates and sandwiches going viral. 

In France, it is a winter dish that has become ubiquitous with the holidays, and if you are invited to a French home to partake, you will most likely eat it with potatoes and variations of charcuterie.

Which is exactly how my boyfriend and I like to eat it. Every year, we test out new brands of Raclette cheese packets, carefully making our selection based on price and flavor options. Spoiler alert: We were not super happy with this year’s choice. It was decidedly lacking in salt, which is a bizarre thing for cheese (I ended up having to sprinkle fleur de sel on all of my melted slices to lift the flavor a bit).

We have no particular preference for which Raclette flavor (there are numerous options), but I’m personally especially partial to peppercorn Raclette and also more funky/smelly Raclette (yes, this is a flavor option).

Be warned that no matter what, your house will just straight up smell like ass when you make Raclette. The taste is much more mild compared to the smell (except if you get the extra funky flavor option). So even despite Paris experiencing its coldest Christmas/New Year’s in 15 years this year, we did crank open our balcony doors and windows as we griddled.  

Our preferred accompagnements remain traditional: boiled potatoes (our nearby Auchan supermarket sells huge discounted bags of local farmer potatoes, knowing full well it is Raclette season), cornichons (an absolute must to cut through the fat), and some charcuterie meat of your choice.

This year, we went a bit rogue by picking up Spanish Ibérico and chorizo from Auchan because it was on sale, and well, it’s delicious. For “health,” we included some lovely radishes with a slab of salted Breton butter on the side. And that’s really all you need, folks. I wanted to grab some olives as well, to which my horrified French boyfriend sniffed and said, “We are not making a charcuterie platter.” My bad. Lastly, my choice of wine to go along with everything was an absolutely fantastic 2023 Domaine de Chevillard Rousette de Savoie Altesse.  

Once you have everything assembled, it’s pretty easy. Turn on your Raclette griddle, put the slices in your little pans, let everything sizzle and get golden, and then let it slide off onto your potatoes. Take the occasional bite of a cornichon or charcuterie slice to cleanse your palate. Have a little wine.

Of all the things I fell in love with about living in France, a dinner of melted cheese, charcuterie, and wine in the wintertime ranks in the top 10, maybe top 5.

Perhaps another time I’ll write about the other melted cheese that is maybe superior to Raclette: Mont d’Or. For now, I can attest that a Raclette dinner with loved ones is one of the best meals to be had here.

Tips to prevent your house from smelling like ass when having Raclette : 

1. No tips possible, your living space will stink.