Which country gave the world Raclette cheese? Switzerland has more reasons to consider itself the birthplace of this delicious dairy product. The first written mention of a dish with that name is contained in the medieval monastic book, which tells that in the cantons of Nidwalden and Obvalden, shepherds cook nutritious "fried cheese" on an open fire . However, France claims that the “Raclette” appeared precisely in its alpine valleys. And besides, this type of cheese is traditionally prepared in the provinces of Savoy, Franche-Comté and even far from the Alps of Brittany and Auvergne. The country appeals to the name of the cheese. After all, Raclette came from the French verb racler, which means "scrape, scrape." Strange association for cheese? Not at all if you know how the Raclette was prepared. In this article we will tell you how to make this cheese, discover the main recipe for a dish from it, and also advise how to replace this imported product.
History
This is the rare case when not a product gives the name of the dish, but vice versa. Raclette cheese is so named because it is scraped off. The shepherds driving the flocks along the slopes of the mountains did not have the opportunity to prepare full meals for themselves. The only thing they could afford was to light a fire and put a piece of cheese on its edge (or put it on a spit). When he began to soften, to melt, he was scraped with a knife. Warm nutritious mass was spread on bread or seasoned with corned beef. Probably, the recipe was born at the same time among shepherds on the Swiss and French sides of the border. Rather, it was created by the ingenuity of a person adapting to difficult natural and domestic conditions.
Brief description of cooking technology
But not every cheese can be consumed in a dish called Raclette. Its distinctive feature should be the ability to melt well and evenly. You say that all hard cheeses have it? Not really. When heated, the Raclette cheese does not bubble, does not flow. It just softens, and therefore it is easy to scrape off with a knife. The flesh of a real “Raclette” should be dense, but rather elastic. And when it melts, then it should emit the aroma of raw mushrooms. To get such cheese, high fat cow milk is not boiled. The cottage cheese is simply pressed and so kept for four, or even six months. The head of cheese during this time is covered with mold, which forms a thin golden brown crust. The pulp remains elastic. But unlike soft “mold” cheeses, “Rakleta” has a rather dense cheese. Most often, whole heads come in for sale, weighing from four to seven kilograms. This preserves the flavor of Raclette. But sometimes the product is packed with bars.
Rocket launcher
Many people far from Switzerland already know what fondue is, and even acquired special equipment for its preparation. For the Raclette dish, special desktop electric ovens are now available. Like fondyushnitsy, they are intended for a festive pastime in a large company. Small wedge-shaped coupelles frying pans marked in color are included in the kit so that everyone monitors the degree of heating of their portion. There is a special bed for cheese with the same name, grill. The kit also includes racquet cheese - a special spatula for scraping the molten product. Good equipment is where the cheese bed extends or rotates around an axis. We will talk more about how to replace the Raclette cheese in the preparation of the dish of the same name. But instead of special equipment, nothing else can be used - if you want, of course, to spend the evening in a friendly company. But if you just want to serve a dish resembling “Raclette” on the table, you can cook it in the oven with the grill function. It will come out just as tasty, but casual.
Raclette cheese: recipes
If you have special equipment, we will make a traditional dish of highlanders. Pull the cheese out of the refrigerator an hour before cooking so that it “breathes”. You also need to pickle the onions ahead of time. We chop it with rings, mix it with several tablespoons of mustard and fill it with a glass of white wine. So the onion should be pickled all night. Before the feast begins, we will boil enough potatoes. Serve the table. We put separately a dish with potatoes, pickled onions, sliced sausages and ham (you can replace meat with seafood), pickles, a plate with raw quail eggs. On the bed of the included rocket launcher we set the head of cheese. Guests put products in their individual pans. Scrap the melted cheese off the head and grill it.
Swiss Country-style Soup
Raclette cheese can also be used to prepare other dishes. Including soups. First, prepare 0.75 liters of any broth. You can use cubes for this. Half a chopped onion fried in a saucepan with 50 grams of butter. When browned, fill with broth. Add a glass of dry white wine, a pinch of salt, pepper, nutmeg. Boil over a minimum heat for a quarter of an hour. Pour the broth into ceramic refractory pots. In each of them we put a slice of white bread and a piece of Raclette cheese. Pots set in the oven with grill function. It is important that the melted cheese covers the bread and forms a “cap” before the chunk soaks in the broth.
Price of pleasure
Equipment for the "raclette party" is already available in Russian online stores. It, like fondue, is of various models. Most of them are electric, but there are also those where grilling and melting cheese is cooked on charcoal. But such equipment is more expensive and heavy. Rocket launchers also vary in size - there is for large companies (eight or ten pans), there is for the family. Therefore, equipment prices range in a wide range - from three to eight and a half thousand rubles. In the same way, through the online store, you can buy cheese "Raclette". The price of a bar in three hundred grams is from four hundred sixty to five hundred rubles. A four to seven kilo head, in view of its high cost, is very difficult to acquire in Russia.
How to serve a raclette party
Cheese "Raklet Sherdinger" (300 g) is well complemented with pickled or pickled cucumbers , cold cuts, onions, mushrooms. And, of course, for such a party you need to stock up on a bottle of good dry wine or beer. Although the Swiss often use this dish with hot tea.
Raclette cheese: what to replace
Previously, this product was made exclusively from alpine cows' skimmed milk, without any aromatic additives. But times are changing. Now you can find “Raclette” from goat’s milk (very tasty and healthy), with paprika, chili pepper, garlic, herbs. All this gives reason to believe that there is nothing irreplaceable in this cheese. Of course, Raclette has a more specific flavor than that used for the Gruyere fondue, and has a more oily structure. But this is not the main thing. We need cheese with a 45 percent fat content. And it should melt gradually and evenly, and not be drowned like butter. Therefore, the replacement of “Raclette” should be treated with caution. But original cheese made in Switzerland or France is too expensive a treat. According to the culinary experts, instead of “Raclette” you can use “Maasdam”, “Emmental”, “Edam”, “Gouda”, “Cheddar” and even “Parmesan”. The German varieties Appenzeller and Tilsiter are also suitable.