Please don’t think me brain damaged; I was young and not well traveled. I was working for Corporate America and part of my job was representing the USA at a European Marketing Managers Meeting which was held two times a quarter in Europe. Mark Z. out of Switzerland was in charge of each meeting and is extremely sports-minded and always incorporated physical events into every three day meeting. So I see Raclette on the agenda. I call Mark and ask what special clothing or sports equipment will I need for Raclette. His reply is, “Laura it’s not a sporting event, it’s cheese, we’ll ski earlier in the day so you’ll need ski clothes, but Raclette is just a cheese dinner no special gear is required.”
I fell in love with Raclette the first evening I ate it. It’s relatively expensive here in the U.S., but a little goes a long way. Raclette is traditionally served with tiny boiled red potatoes, dill pickles, tiny pickled onions, and some form of dried meat such as prosciutto.
In European restaurants, Raclette is hoisted on a large spit and scraped off as needed. In European homes there are also Raclette table top appliances that will produce a similar result. When we make it here in the US, the trick is take thin slices the cheese, throw them in the oven on broil. The cheese will melt in seconds. Quickly remove it from the oven and serve it immediately. It’s not a good company kind of meal, since the hosts have to jump up and down from the table. But it sure is a real treat for the family and very close friends.
At dinner I didn’t need to buy special clothes or equipment to engage in the event of eating. Boy did I feel stupid asking that question but it was a long time ago, before Google, and better safe then sorry. I just showed up with my appetite.
That looks so good!