Keep in mind that there are a lot of differences between traditional Swiss Raclette and the German version of it. This post is about the German version so if you are looking for the tradition of the Swiss one you might need to look somewhere else.
The word Raclette can refer to the traditional Swiss cheese or indoor grill party where people eat it. Raclette is a cheese that traditionally would be melted in front of the open fire, and as soon as the cheese gets soft, the melted part would be scraped off. Swiss like serving their Raclette with bread, hard-boiled potatoes, pickled cucumbers, pickled onions and dried meat. Here in Germany, we serve it with many more ingredients.
Tools that you need for German Raclette
We are making our Raclette on Raclette Grill with small pans, in which the cheese would be melted. On the top of our Raclette grill, there is a stone, where we grill additional ingredients. I think that the stone works for grilling the fresh meat perfectly. For serving you will need a lot of bowls and plates in different sizes.
Before you start grilling
Before you start you might want to remove any textiles from the room, where you will be having the Raclette party. Raclette leaves not a very pleasant smell and removing the textiles help getting rid of the smell quickly.
German Raclette – our ingredients list:
Cheese
- Raclette cheese
Vegetables
- Hard-boiled jacket potatoes
- Zucchini
- Peppers
- Champignons
- Fresh Cherry Tomatoes
- Fresh onion
- Fried onion
Condiments
- Sweetcorn
- Pickled Cucumber
Meat
- Fresh, marinated meat (like chicken breast, beef or pork tenderloin)
- Salami
- Frankfurter/Vienna sausages
- Ham
Other:
- Garlic
- Herb butter
If you like you can also include: tuna, fresh salmon, crabs, prawns, beans, eggplant, Brokkoli, cauliflower, feta, goat cheese.
But also sweet ingredients like pancakes or crepes with chocolate, sliced bananas or strawberries.
The options are endless.
German Raclette – Grilling
Using Raclette Grill is straight forward but I would like to encourage you to read the instructions first for the particular grill that you own. First, you need to plug the electrical cord into a socket. The quickest way to preheat the grill plate is to use the highest setting for 15 minutes and then reduce it to medium cooking temperature. The stone usually takes a little longer to preheat. For the stone, you usually don’t need When the grill is ready you can start grilling.
There are really no strict rules on how to combine the ingredients.
My favourite German Raclette ingredient combinations:
Hot-Dog Pan: Frankfurter/Wiener, Raclette Cheese, pickled cucumbers, fried onions
Pizza Pan: mushrooms, Salami, Sweetcorn, Raclette cheese
Vegetarian Pan: zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, Raclette cheese
Gipsy Pan: onions, peppers, marinated chicken breast, Raclette cheese
Grill Pan: chicken breast, herb butter, Raclette Cheese
Banana-Chocolate Pan: pancake/crepe, chocolate cubes, banana
Raclette Grill Party is very enjoyable because everybody cooks their own meal. Your job as a host is to get the ingredients ready.
Additional Tips for German Raclette:
- Remove the textiles before you start grilling the cheese to avoid the unpleasant smell that Raclette leaves in the room.
- Make sure you have extension cable for the grill if your table is not next to a socket.
- Cut the vegetables thinly, so it doesn’t take ages to grill them. Make sure that the slices of the cheese are thick and similar to the size of the pan.
- When your guest finished eating, collect all the pans and wash them directly or soak them in water. This will help to remove the cheese quickly.
- When you have fresh meat leftovers you can prepare it on the stone and store in the fridge for the next day.
- When you have vegetable leftovers you can make a stir-fry the next day.
- When you have cheese leftovers you can freeze it.
Other winter dishes that you might be interested in:
Swiss Cheese Fondue
German Roasted Goose Recipe
German Raclette
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 potatoes
- 400 g raclette cheese
- 1/4 zucchini
- 1/4 pepper
- 4 champignons
- 1/2 onion
- Handfull cherry tomatoes
- 3 tbsp fried onions
- 3 tbsp sweetcorn
- 3-4 pickled cucumbers
- 200 g fresh meat chicken breast
- 50 g salami
- 50 g ham
- 2 Frankfurter/Wiener
- 40 g herb butter
- 2 Garlic cloves
- chicken seasoning optional
Instructions
Prepare the ingredients for Raclette
- Rinse the potatoes with cold water and cook until tender. Don't remove the skin, we usually serve jacket potatoes with raclette.
- Cut zucchini, peppers, pickled cucumber, garlic and champignons into thin slices/stripes. Make sure the slices are thin, so the ingredients won't take long to cook.
- Chop fresh onion into small cubes.
- Cut Frankfurter in rings and chicken breast (or other meat you use) into stripes.
- Take 100g of the fresh meat and marinated in the spices of your choice (I use the standard chicken seasoning). Set aside.
- Arrange all ingredients in small plates and bowls.
- Cut the Raclette cheese into 0,5cm slices. The slices should be a little smaller then the raclette pans.
- When the potatoes are tender remove the water in which the potatoes cooked and cover the pot with a lid so the potatoes keep warm.
Prepare Raclette
- Remove all the textiles from the room where you will be indoor grilling.
- Place the Raclette Grill in the middle of the table. Bring the bowls and plates with Raclette ingredients.
- Turn on the grill and wait until it heats up (15-20 minutes).
- Grill the cheese, with other ingredients in the pans.
- Grill the meat on the stone if you like. You usually don't need any oil with it.
- As soon as you and your guests finish eating collect the pans and soak them in the soapy water to make sure that the cheese comes off easily.
Notes
My favourite Ingredient Combinations:
Hot-Dog Pan: Frankfurter/Wiener, Raclette Cheese, pickled cucumbers, fried onionsPizza Pan: mushrooms, Salami, Sweetcorn, Raclette cheese
Vegetarian Pan: zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, Raclette cheese
Gipsy Pan: onions, peppers, marinated chicken breast, Raclette cheese
Grill Pan: chicken breast, herb butter, Raclette Cheese
Banana-Chocolate Pan: pancake/crepe, chocolate cubes, banana
Additional Tips:
- Remove the textiles before you start grilling the cheese to avoid the unpleasant smell that Raclette leaves in the room.
- Make sure you have extension cable for the grill if your table is not next to a socket.
- Cut the vegetables thinly, so it doesn't take ages to grill them. Make sure that the slices of the cheese are thick and similar to the size of the pan.
- When your guest finished eating, collect all the pans and wash them directly or soak them in water. This will help to remove the cheese quickly.
- When you have fresh meat leftovers, you can prepare it on the stone and store in the fridge for the next day.
- When you have vegetable leftovers, you can make a stir-fry the next day.
- When you have cheese leftovers, you can freeze it.
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