Raclette Recap!
Hip-hip-hooray, December 13th is World Raclette Day! The perfect opportunity to celebrate this ooey-gooey cheese and recap the two awesome events that we participated in over the weekend.
Raclette refers to both a type of cheese and a style of dish it is served with. The type of cheese is an Alpine-style, cow’s milk cheese, that has superb melting qualities. In the summer, the cows are fed fresh grass and in the winter their diet shifts to meadow hay. This type of diet results in an aromatic cheese ranging in flavor from mild and milky to piquant and funky, depending on the wheel.
The name raclette, comes from the French verb “racler”, meaning “to scrape”. This alludes to the extremely satisfying method in which raclette is prepared. Raclette is prepared either in a grill pan or using a professional melter and then that ooey-gooey molten cheese is poured or scraped onto each individual dish. It’s equal parts tasty-treat and sexy-show.
On Friday, December 9th, MV Cheesery partnered with S&S Kitchenette to host a Raclette Night! Together with Chef Spring Sheldon, we brainstormed a menu featuring dishes designed to be shared and smothered in raclette cheese. Everything from steamed fingerling potatoes to shroomy-toast to a farmer’s plate piled high with charcuterie and local veggies. The S&S Kitchenette was vibing and it was the perfect scene to introduce my new raclette machines to the world. I was scraping that oeey-gooey goodness onto plates all night long. It was an absolute blast! Should we do it again in January…?
Then, the following day, on Saturday, December 10th, MV Cheesery and our counterpart Epicure participated in the inaugural “Holiday Faire” in the Edgartown Village Green as a part of the Christmas in Edgartown festivities. The Village Green is a Vineyard Preservation Trust property and it was very cool to see it activated in such a fun and festive way with artisans, artists, and food vendors. The Epicure menu items included balila (a stewed chickpea dish), chicken shawarma, and baklawa. MV Cheesery had the raclette grill going full force, smothering fingerling potatoes or pretzel nuggets and giving folks the option to add finocchiona salami, gherkins, sauerkraut, and spicy stone ground mustard. What accompaniments do you like to smother in raclette?
It felt so good to represent MV Cheesery out in the community and introduce people to the glory of raclette! More cheesy events to come!
