The word "raclette" refers both to a cheese AND to a type of grill

Raclette Cheese

Raclette is a cheese whose origin in Switzerland dates back hundreds of years. Tradition says that shepherds living in the mountains discovered that raclette cheese spilt onto a stone and melted in front of the fire was delicious! They scraped it off and ate it with potatoes and pickles. Hence the Raclette dish was born.

Raclette Grills and Hot Stones

Raclettes let you melt your Raclette cheese at the dinner table, either under the grill in a pan or with the hot stone version on the top of the grill. Using the pan under the grill makes it a lot easier to remove the cheese, however!

Hot Stone Raclettes are flat, heated stone tops on which you can cook, fat free. The Raclette Grills are more like a griddle pan and give you a more barbecued flavour.

The strictly traditional serve the grilled cheese with pickles/onions, potatoes (which you can keep warm in a dish on the stone top), or with crusty bread - which can be lightly toasted on the top. For the skiers amongst us, this will remind you of snowy, Alpine evenings!

Optional extras include ham, prosciutto, pepperoni, tomatoes and fresh or dried herbs. These can be eaten cold, or warned with the cheese under the raclette grill.

If you can't get hold of Swiss Raclette cheese, then try Emmental, Gruyere, Mature Cheddar or Jarlsberg