Raclette

In the Valais, herders and households heated a cut wheel beside a fire and scraped the softened face over potatoes and other simple foods. The gesture gave the cheese and the supper the same name. The practice is old in those Alpine valleys. The electric grill and the little pans in a restaurant are a modern way to repeat the gesture indoors.

A protected cheese, Raclette du Valais, ties one version to the Swiss canton and to its rules. France, especially Savoie and other dairy regions, makes large amounts of raclette cheese for the same dish. Those wheels can be excellent and are not automatically the Valais AOP. Supermarket blocks labeled raclette are often made only to melt under a grill. The dish made the cheese into a category.

Cow's milk is made into a pressed wheel with a washed rind. The paste is flexible and fairly moist, which is why it softens at a moderate heat instead of staying in a lump or turning straight to oil. The rind is aromatic. Wheels are aged long enough to taste of cheese, not so long that they become grating cheeses.

Valais rules cover milk and place for the protected Swiss cheese. A cooking raclette made elsewhere follows the melting brief more than a landscape. Smoke, wine, or pepper is sometimes added. Those are flavored versions. Classic raclette is the plain washed wheel. If a cheese barely softens, or if it splits into a puddle of fat at once, it was the wrong texture for the dish, whatever the label said.

The paste tastes milky, salty, and nutty, with a washed-rind smell that grows when it is hot. Melted, it should taste rich and savory, not harshly bitter and not like plain oil. The rind's aroma is part of a traditional scrape. Trim it if you want a milder bite.

Cold raclette tastes quieter than hot raclette. Judge it melted before you decide the wheel is dull. A sour, ammoniated, or soapy wheel will be worse in the pan. A very mild block will feed a crowd and taste mostly of salt and fat. That may be what a party needs. It is less than a valley wheel can be.

Heat the cut face of a wheel, or melt slices in a small pan, and scrape or pour the cheese over hot potatoes. Cornichons, pickled onions, and dried or cured meat are the usual sharp partners, because the cheese is rich. Serve it as a meal, not as an appetizer before a heavy main course. Leftover slices can go into a sandwich or onto boiled potatoes the next day.

Do not use a long-aged Gruyère or a Parmesan as the raclette cheese. They are too dry and too intense, and they will not soften in the same sheet. Do not use a fresh mozzarella. It will weep water. A washed mountain cheese of the right moisture, such as a meltable fontina, is a possible stand-in. The dish is named for this style. Potatoes are not optional in the traditional plate. They are the food the cheese was scraped onto.

The meal is now a winter restaurant ritual in Switzerland, in France, and in cities far from the Alps. Ski holidays spread it. Home grills spread it further. Valais remains the reference for the protected Swiss cheese. Savoie and other French dairies supply a large share of the wheels that are actually melted on those grills.

Buy a cheese that says it is for raclette if you are cooking the dish, and buy Raclette du Valais if you specifically want the protected Swiss wheel. A wedge cut for a board can be the same cheese, served cold in thicker pieces. Outside the season, the supermarket block exists so the dish can happen on a weeknight. Use it for that. Do not describe it as a wheel that came down from a Valais alp unless the label says so.