Monday, December 25, 2006

A Taste of Swiss Raclette

Scraping off Raclette

This was something new to me that popped up at brunch today: Swiss Raclette. I wasn't quite sure what was going on at first as there was a half round of cheese mounted vertically into this metal structure that initially I thought was just a way to make it easy to shave the cheese. Upon looking more closely though, this thing was actually heating up the cheese to the point where the top layer was bubbling and even browning a tad. The guy then took the round out of the machine and then scraped off some melted cheese onto a plate of various objects such as potatoes, pickles, and air dried beef. Oooh...that had to be good!

RacletteAnd good it was. It basically was kinda like fondue, but on a plate (and thus presumably being more efficient in the use of the cheese). The cheese had just the right amount of stank in it to give it real character, but not so much as to be annoying. I was told that an alternative way of serving this is in individual slices and over an open fire, so hopefully I'll get to see that done one of these days.

9 comments:

LiquidShaDow said...

Hey, may I know where did you eat this?

Anonymous said...

Oooh I've had this eons ago at SRC! Even before the dish came to my table, I could smell the cheese. We had to have second servings of this!

However, this is so hard to find. I have since never seen it served at much places.

bma said...

This was at the Goodward Park Hotel.

Colin said...

Hope u washed it down with white wine. Raclette will get all nice and squishy in your belly and sink like lead if you drink water with it.
Merry Xmas!

Anonymous said...

Saw this before at Marche (Heeren) tho I never tried it. But I think Marche has been replace by something else there, so not sure if they'd still have this.

Anonymous said...

Colin is right, either white wine or black tea helps digest it.

The way you had it served is very tasty and nice to look at, but I prefer the table grill way at your own home :-) In case you want to see some pictures, there is a great Aussie site talking about raclette in quite some detail. Even in comparison with fondue.

Your pictures are very good!

Anonymous said...

Yes Marche has Raclette but the quality is inconsistent as it is dependent on which bartender is melting the cheese.

You can get a really good Raclette from Tavern, a Swiss restaurant at River Valley Road. While there, you should try their Mushroom, Zurich style

Anonymous said...

hey, you can try your luck at getting a raclette machine. unlike the one you have posted, the raclette machine for home use has 6 little metal plates on which you can place you slice of cheese on. after which there is a oven sort of grill which you can place your plate under and allow the cheese to melt and grill. (we happen to chance upon a swiss lady who was moving and posted this on the noticeboard outside carrefour)

you can find ready sliced and good raclette cheese at carrefour, plaza singapura in the cheese section (on the extreme left hand corner of the aisle. take note its not in the cold cuts deli)

raclette is fabulous, you can eat it anyway you want. although the swiss would argue that it is best with baby potatoes, sweet onions and a little paprika. but for asian fusion, add mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon and the list goes on.

by the way hungry boy, i love your blog. keep it up. whenever i am stuck of where to eat, your blog is the first i pull up for inspiration.

Anonymous said...

the buffet spread at café swiss, swissôtel the stamford, includes raclette at the live station :)