Re. raclette
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Anonymous
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Every year when I visit my relatives in another country, my aunt makes a raclette for us. I love it and now the other thread has me wondering where can I find a "raclette machine" or whatever you call that thing here in the US?
Tia! |
Anonymous
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If ever there were a machine that takes up space that you never use, it is a raclette. Trust me, I speak from bitter experience. In any case you can't get the right cheese here.
If you want to reconstruct cheese-based European holiday food from the 1970s, stick to fondue. It is much nicer... |
Anonymous
| Sur La Table carries a raclette grill -- I don't know if they stock them in the stores. German Gourmet in Bailey's Crossroads has raclette cheese. We love having people over for raclette. Our own twist is to use the grill to melt gorgonzola on polenta... |
Anonymous
| You really don't need the machine. You can get raclette cheese and just melt it in a stoneware pan or plate. It tastes just as good. |
Anonymous
| We were just saying the other night that we wish there was some place to get raclette around here. |
Anonymous
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Unless you're regularly having raclette parties, I'd just get a couple of these and provide my own heat source:
http://www.amazon.com/Boska-Holland-Milano-Collection-Barbeclette/dp/B001U88XJ6 If you are the party type, you'd be amazed at what you find on Craigslist: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=raclette |
Anonymous
| The Swiss Bakery in Springfield serves raclette at their cafe. |
Anonymous
| I fucking love raclette. |
Anonymous
| So is that other country Switzerland or Savoy (just kidding)? Ebay regularly has raclette/pierrade tabletop stoves. I haven't seen the restaurant kind that holds a half -wheel of cheese, though. Also, on occasion you can find things on shopgoodwill.org. I myself just bought a lovely set of fondue plates from them. |
Anonymous
| I love raclette. But I don't like the way the cheese smells like wet dog before it's melted! |
Anonymous
| MMM .... with the potatos and little sour pickles ... |
Anonymous
| aka jerkins |
Anonymous
Gherkins! Otherwise known as cornichons! |
Anonymous
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Our family loves raclette nights, and we do them often. We got ours from Amazon (this model: Swissmar 8-Person Eiger Raclette with Reversible Cast Iron Grill Plate), and it works really well. We always do the traditional accompaniments (the cured meats, new potatoes and gherkins that other posters have mentioned), but we don't limit ourselves to that. I typically put out a big bowl of whatever vegetables we have on hand, sliced into smallish serving sizes. Asparagus, green beans, peppers, mushrooms, and zucchini are favorites. Then we'll have a bowl with sliced bread (good french bread and pumpernickel), another with meats (typically a tender cut of steak, but I also sometimes do partially pre-cooked shrimp--anything thin that cooks quickly works). For the cheese, raclette is nice and I've found it at Balduccis, and some Giants and WFs, but you don't need to limit yourself to raclette to make it worthwhile--any melting cheese works great. If I have time, I might also put out some garlic or mustard butter for folks to put on their meats.
We find it much healthier and more versatile than fondue since you don't need to have gobs of cheese with every bite (NTTIAWWT), and everyone enjoys customizing their meal. My husband and one son both like to make little sandwiches with their various grilled things and melty cheese, which my daughter and I think is odd; no one else in the family appreciates what I think is the best combo: grilled poblano peppers, grilled chorizo, and melted cheddar. You don't need to use cheese at all--you can use the trays to make toast, mini-pizzas, or anything you can think of. They make for very fun party nights (we eventually added a second one so we can host a bigger group), but my favorite thing may be how much our teens love it. It's so very nice at the end of a busy week of sports practices, homework and rushed dinners to sit down and have a long leisurely meal and talk and laugh as we jockey for grill space. Their friends all love it too! |
Anonymous
| I just saw a raclette grill/machine/devise in a recent Crate and Barrel circular. Go for it! |