Raclette does not have a very strong taste but eating the melted cheese with potatoes, deli meat or bread was a nice, savory meal.
The most important part about this dish is the Raclette cheese, which is made in large wheels. Sometimes at a restaurant, the waiter will bring a large wheel of Raclette cheese already melted and scrape the top layer of melted cheese onto your plate. If you are making this dish at home using the melting machines, you can cut the wheel of cheese into thin slices so that it melts faster and heat it up under a hot electric coil. At the restaurant I went to, we were able to have the cheese melted right in front of us, but we had to be careful because the coil can get hot! Once the cheese starts to melt, each of my friends and I took turns scaping off the melted layers of cheese and placing it onto our plates. Traditionally, the melted cheese is served with bread, potatoes and deli meats like ham and thinly sliced sausages. There is usually a small salad or vegetables served on the side as well.
Raclette cheese is a regional dish because the milk that makes the cheese is from cows that are raised in the Alps mountain region. Because Grenoble is a part of the French Alps region, this dish is a local specialty. Not too far away, cities in the Swiss Alps region are also known for making Raclette cheese.
