Raclette over an open fire – the cheese against the flames, scraped straight onto the potatoes

A piece of cheese against the flames, hot potatoes and tangy pickled onions

4 servings
Time: 20 min at home + 45 min by the fire
Difficulty: Easy
7 ingredients
8 steps

Photo: Ka23 13, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Raclette is not really a dish so much as a movement. A piece of cheese stands with its cut face turned towards the fire, the surface starts to bubble and turn golden, and someone draws the knife down at an angle so that a hot, glossy layer slides down over a boiled potato. Then the cheese is turned back towards the flames, and the next person holds out their plate.

On a winter's day at the fire pit it is hard to imagine a better lunch. The fire has to burn anyway, and all you need is potatoes, a piece of cheese and a jar of pickled silverskin onions. At the edge of a ski trail or a frozen lake it suddenly smells like an alpine hut, and the children queue up with their plates in their mittens.

From the herders' fire in Valais

Raclette comes from the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The herders who drove the cows to and from the summer pastures took cheese with them and stood it next to the campfire in the evening, so the surface softened and could be scraped onto bread. Melting cheese in front of the fire in Valais was written about as early as 1574. The name comes from the French racler, to scrape.

The electric raclette grill with its little pans is a later invention. So over an open fire you are doing it the original way, and it is actually easier than it sounds. If you want to see the area where it all started, we have a guide to Crans-Montana, right in Valais.

Raclette or fondue? In raclette only the surface of the cheese melts, and it is scraped down onto the potatoes. In a cheese fondue all the cheese is melted with wine or apple juice in a pot, and you dip bread in it. Raclette copes better with uneven heat, since there is no cheese sauce that can split.

Method

Build the fire for side heat. Raclette melts from the radiant heat of the flames and embers, not from heat underneath. Let the fire burn against the back of the fireplace so there is room in front of it.
Put the cheese in the pan. Put the piece of cheese in the cast-iron pan with the cut face upwards. Set the pan at the edge of the fire with the handle towards you, and lift the handle so the pan tilts and the inside faces the flames, at about 45 degrees. Prop the handle on a stone or a log. The cut face should point towards the fire, 15–25 centimetres away. The rim of the pan holds the cheese in place and catches the drips, so nothing falls into the fire.
Or on a stone. Without a pan, a flat, dry stone propped up against another stone near the fire works. The piece of cheese lies on the stone with the cut face towards the fire. Never take a stone from a stream or a shore – damp stones can crack when they heat up. More about cooking on a stone is in cooking on a stone or plank.
Wait for the bubbles. After a few minutes the surface starts to shine, bubble and get golden spots. That is the moment. If the cheese starts running in big drips or the edge of the rind turns black, move the pan further back.
Serve the potatoes. Split a hot potato on the plate or press it lightly with a fork so that it bursts open.
Scrape. Lift the pan with the barbecue glove, hold it at an angle over the plate and draw the knife from the surface down towards the rim of the pan so the melted layer slides onto the potato. Put the pan straight back towards the fire.
Season and eat. Sprinkle with black pepper and a little paprika, and eat with cornichons and pickled onions. The acidity cuts through the richness.
The next round. Each round takes a few minutes, so eat in batches. That is how raclette is meant to be eaten: a little at a time, while the cheese is hot.

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At home and by the fire

Raclette is one of the few fire dishes where the cold is a bigger problem than the fire. Cheese melted in the middle of a winter lunch sets again within a minute if it lands on a cold potato on a cold metal plate. So almost all of the preparation is about getting everything there hot.

At home:

Boil the potatoes in salted water until just tender, about 15–20 minutes.
Warm the food flask with boiling water for a few minutes, pour it out and fill the flask with the freshly boiled potatoes and a little of the hot cooking water. Screw the lid on straight away. Only pour off the water when you are at the fire.
Trim the cheese so it has a flat cut face at least the size of a palm. That face is what melts. Leave the rind on the other side – it holds the piece together as it warms.
Tip the pickles into a plastic tub with a tight lid. A glass jar of brine can freeze and crack in a cold pulk.

By the fire:

Bring the cheese up to temperature. Cheese can handle the cold but should not freeze through. If it is in the pulk in hard frost, pack it in the middle of the load as described in pulk sled with gear and put it out by the fire for a while before you start. A stone-cold cheese burns on the surface before it melts.
Potatoes in the embers. If you have no flask, wrap the boiled potatoes in foil and put the parcels at the edge of the embers for 10–15 minutes. Raw new potatoes in foil take much longer, see embers and foil.
Warm the plates. Stand the wooden plates near the fire for a while, edge towards the heat. It buys the cheese another half a minute.

Livsmedelsverket, the Swedish Food Agency, uses 60 degrees as the guideline for hot food. The potatoes should be piping hot when they are served. Potatoes that have been sitting lukewarm in the flask for several hours are better eaten straight away than saved for the next day. More basic ideas about food in the cold are in cooking outdoors in winter.

The pan version with slices

If you only have an ordinary frying pan and want to keep it simpler, slice the cheese at home. Put potato halves in the pan, cover with slices of cheese and put on a lid or a piece of foil. Set the pan on a grate over even embers for 3–5 minutes until the cheese has melted over the potatoes. It is more of a cheese gratin than a true raclette, but it works even when the wind is in the wrong direction for side heat.

Tips for raclette in the cold

The right cheese. Raclette cheese is semi-hard, melts evenly and does not go stringy. Mature hard cheeses turn oily and burn before they melt.
More cheese than you think. Allow 200–250 grams per person if the raclette is the whole meal, and a little extra because the rind is left over. Anyone who has been skiing all morning is hungry, too.
Small potatoes. A small potato is eaten before the cheese has had time to set. Large potatoes go cold on the plate.
One scraping tool per pan. Do not swap knives between cheese and potatoes in the snow, or cold potato will stick to the knife.
A hot drink alongside. In Valais, black tea is the traditional drink with raclette. For the children, a hot chocolate or hot squash goes down well.

Safety with raclette

Melted cheese behaves like hot fat with glue in it. It sticks to the skin and keeps on burning. 1177 (the Swedish healthcare advice line) says a burn should be cooled with cool water straight away, and that you should never use ice or snow, as it does more harm than good. Do not cool it for more than 15 minutes, or the risk of hypothermia increases – and in the cold that happens fast. So keep a bottle of cool water in an inside pocket so that it does not freeze. More about fire and first aid is in fire safety in nature.

After a few rounds the pan is hot all the way out to the handle. Use a barbecue glove and put it down on a chopping board, not directly in the snow, where it can tip over or crack from the temperature shock.

Pregnant: Livsmedelsverket (the Swedish Food Agency) says all cheeses firm enough to slice with a cheese slicer are fine to eat, including those made from unpasteurised milk, and raclette cheese can be sliced that way. The authentic cheese from Valais is made from unpasteurised milk. With raclette only the surface gets hot, not the whole cheese piping hot. If you want to be extra careful, choose a raclette cheese made from pasteurised milk. It says so on the packet.

Allergens: Milk in the cheese. Some pickles contain mustard seeds, so read the label if anyone is allergic to mustard.

Fire bans apply in winter too, even though it is unusual. Check the rules in lighting fires outdoors before you light the fire.

Raclette with children

Children cannot hold the hot pan, but they can handle most things around it themselves:

Splitting the potatoes and putting them on their own plate.
Setting out the pickles and helping themselves to onions and gherkins.
Calling out when it bubbles. A child who has been given the job of watching the cheese surface is happy to stand a metre from the fire and shout.
Sprinkling the paprika once the cheese has landed.

An adult holds the pan and scrapes, and the child holds the plate low and still. Never scrape cheese over a child's hands. Let the child blow on it and wait half a minute before the first bite. Melted cheese is much hotter than it looks. More ideas for little cooks are in cooking with children over a fire, and how to stay warm through the day itself is in how cold is too cold on the slopes.

Common mistakes

The embers under the cheese instead of the flames in front – the bottom burns and the surface does not melt.
Cold potatoes from the lunch box – the cheese sets before it can be eaten.
The whole cheese at once – the surface turns rubbery and oily. Melt and scrape a thin layer at a time.
The pan too close – the rind blackens and the cheese runs into the fire.
Cheese frozen through in the pulk – it turns crumbly and burns on the outside before it softens.

Vary the raclette

With bread: Scrape the cheese onto a thick slice of toasted bread instead of potatoes, as the herders did and as raclette is sold as street food today. A frying-pan bread works well.
With sausage: Cook sausages on sticks while the cheese melts and scrape the cheese over them.
With root vegetables: Swap some of the potatoes for carrot and parsnip baked in foil in the embers.
Smoked or spiced cheese: Raclette cheese comes smoked and flavoured with pepper or herbs.
Pudding on the same fire: While the embers are still going, make apples baked in the embers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between raclette and cheese fondue?

In raclette you melt the surface of a piece of cheese and scrape it onto boiled potatoes. In cheese fondue all the cheese is melted with wine or apple juice and starch into a sauce in a pot, and you dip bread in it. Raclette is easier over an open fire because the cheese cannot split.

Can you make raclette without a raclette grill?

Yes, that is how raclette started. Stand a piece of cheese in a cast-iron pan or on a flat stone with the cut face towards the fire and scrape the surface when it bubbles. At home you can do it with a piece of cheese in the oven under the grill.

What goes with raclette?

The classic is boiled potatoes in their skins, cornichons and pickled silverskin onions. Black pepper and paprika are sprinkled over. Traditionally it is served with black tea or another hot drink.

How much cheese do you need per person?

Allow 200–250 grams of raclette cheese per person when the raclette is the whole meal, with just potatoes and pickles alongside. As a snack by the fire, about half that is enough.

Which cheese can you use if you cannot find raclette cheese?

Another semi-hard cheese that melts evenly will work, for example prästost (a mild Swedish cheese) or a mild Gruyère. Avoid soft fresh cheese and mozzarella – they go stringy and are hard to scrape. Very mature hard cheeses turn oily and burn easily.

Can pregnant women eat raclette?

Yes. According to Livsmedelsverket, all cheeses firm enough to slice with a cheese slicer are fine to eat during pregnancy, including those made from unpasteurised milk, and raclette cheese can be sliced that way. If you want to be extra careful, you can choose a raclette cheese made from pasteurised milk, since only the surface gets hot with raclette.

More dishes for the winter fire, from soups in a pot to puddings in the embers, are gathered under fire food.