One of the most fun meals I had while I was at home in England was a raclette dinner with my god-daughter and her family. I have had lots of fondue dinners, but this was a new experience for me. Raclette is both the name of a Swiss cheese and a table-top grill where you can melt the cheese. The kids were pros and enjoyed showing me what to do.
The raclette grill comes with individual wedge shaped pans called coupelles and you take a slice of raclette cheese (or a similar easy-to-melt cheese) and place it in your coupelle under the grill. There is also a hot-plate above the grill and you can cook on there. We experimented with sliced potatoes, ham and bacon.
Raclette is commonly served with hot boiled potatoes, gherkins and vegetables. You can cook things in the coupelle with the cheese, or just melt your cheese and pour it on top of your food. The raclette set also comes with small wooden spatulas to help get scrape the cheese out of the coupelle.
The kids loved the process of choosing and creating, we ate, laughed and told stories. Potatoes and cheese are a classic combination but the DIY element of the meal added a fun dimension.
You can buy a raclette grill for around $100. Amazon has an extensive selection.
