Raclette
| Raclette | |
|---|---|
| Country of Manufacture | Switzerland and France |
| Manufacturing region | Valais raclette and trifolait in the canton of Valais , Swiss raclette cheese in central and eastern Switzerland , raclette de Savoie and Reblochonade in Savoy |
| milk | Cow's milk |
| Storage time | 3–6 months |
The raclette ( Valais German ds ( neuter ) ragglett , French la (female) raclette ) is both the name of a popular cow's milk cheese and the name of a well-known warm dish that, like cheese fondue, is made by slowly melting cheese.
Name customer
The name "Raclette" comes from the French dialect word ( patois ) racler , which means to scrape , as the top layer of half the cheese, which was grilled on the embers and smoked , was scraped off with a knife onto a plate or a piece of bread. From 1874, the cheese was officially named with him in the Swiss canton of Valais . In 1909, on the occasion of the cantonal industrial exhibition (Exposition cantonale industrial) in the Valais canton capital Sion , raclette became known to a wider public as the “national Valais dish”.
origin
The first evidence of a forerunner of the later Raclette du Valais comes from the fourth century BC. The cheeses identified by historians in Valais springs from the end of the Middle Ages can be seen as pre-forms of Valais raclette. 1291 report medieval monastery manuscripts from the cantons of Obwalden and Nidwalden by a fried cheese called Bratchäs as a particularly nutritious food of the herdsmen .
The oldest surviving documents describing cheese melts in Valais go back to 1574.
Raclette cheese
The term “raclette” in itself is not protected, which is why it is now produced outside the Valais cantons in parts of the rest of Switzerland, France, Austria, Germany, Finland and the United States. Of the more than 14,000 tonnes of raclette that are now produced in Switzerland each year, around 2000 tonnes come from the canton of Valais.
Valais raclette
Walliser Raclette ( French Raclette du Valais ) is a protected designation of origin (GUB, French appellation d'origine protégée, AOP ). The cheese is made from raw milk exclusively in the canton of Valais, with the exception of Alp Spittelmatten in the area of the municipality of Kandersteg in the canton of Bern. The fat content of the cheese is at least 50% fat i. Tr. (Maximum content 549 g / kg fat in total). The Valais Raclette takes at least three months to mature. The Goms , Bagnes and Orsières are among the most famous Valais production locations .
Swiss raclette cheese
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The non-certified cheese produced in other parts of Switzerland is called Swiss Raclette Cheese ( French Raclette Suisse ), and pasteurized or thermised milk is often used for its production . In addition to rennet enzymes, more and more thermophilic acidification cultures are used for coagulation. The fat content is between 46 and 54.9% fat i. Tr. Usually, the manufacturer stamps his name or that of the cheese region on the cheese page.
For example, in 2007 - including the cheese offered by major Swiss distributors such as Migros or Coop - 11,609 tons of Swiss raclette were produced, of which 436 tons were exported to Germany. This makes Germany the largest foreign sales market.
Raclette de Savoie
Raclette de Savoie has been a product with a protected geographical indication since 2017 . Production is limited to the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie and some communes in the departments of Ain and Isère . It is made from thermised raw milk and is a soft cheese. The cows are fed with at least 50% roughage , which can only be grown in the area of origin. Coarse forage may only be fed to around ten percent on an annual average.
variants
There are now numerous types of raclette cheese, which are also made with garlic , pepper , truffles or paprika or made from goat's milk .
As Reblochonade (French. Reblochade ) is a special type of Raclettes with from Hochsavoyen derived cheese Reblochon designated.
A raclette cheese called Trifolait has been made from cow, sheep and goat milk in the canton of Valais since 2017 .
Tasting
The raclette cheese tastes spicy and mild and not particularly hot. Valais raclette has a much more intense taste than industrially produced raclette cheese.
properties
Raclette is a cheese that melts easily, both in flat, round loaves with a diameter of 29–32 cm with a straight, non-concave side, regular height of 6–7.5 cm and a weight of 4.6–5.4 kg as well as in flat rectangular loaves with a diameter of 25–40 cm, a height of 6–7.5 cm and a weight between 3.5 and 7.5 kg. The dough is ivory-colored, soft, cutable and has no or only a few small holes (2-3 mm in diameter). The bark is dry and whitish or it is smeared and is then yellowish to reddish. It is consumed as each loaf is made without any preservatives. Because of its intended use for grilling, the aim is to ensure that raclette melts as evenly as possible and without leaking fat, which is why it is also recommended for cheese fondue and cheese dishes. In addition, it can also be eaten on a cheese platter , for dessert or as a snack between meals.
Manufacturing
The coagulation time is approx. 30 minutes at 30–33 ° C. The curd is brought to the size of a wheat grain, reheated and stirred, then pressed into loaves and turned several times. It is important that the loaves do not cool too much while pressing, which is why they are traditionally covered with towels. They are then given a salt bath, sometimes with and sometimes without additional salt, and are stored for several months. If you lubricate them, you start with them early and repeat it regularly during the ripening period, turning the cheeses continuously.
Raclette dish
Serve
Nowadays, the melted and scraped cheese is usually served with Gschwellti ( Swiss German for jacket potatoes ), pickled cucumbers, vinegar onions, mustard fruits , quartered tomatoes and pepper from the mill.
Melting the cheese
Valais raclette tradition
In the traditional Valais way, half a loaf of raclette cheese is placed so close to the fire that it slowly begins to melt. The cheese is not only melted, but also smoked and grilled at the same time . This creates the typical taste of the raclette prepared over the fire. The raclette cook is usually also a fireman. He divides the fire into a rear fire part and a front ember part. There is a board in front of the embers and on top of it the two halves of the cheese loaf with the cut surface facing the embers. This way, one cheese can always melt while the other is scraping a portion of raclette onto a plate with the back of a knife. An essential element - in addition to culinary enjoyment - is conviviality in the group by the open fireplace or around the campfire . A classic raclette evening can last several hours. When actually eating, one portion after the other is served, and each guest can have several portions.
Raclette oven
1. Oven for cheese halves
In the meantime, raclette is no longer mainly made over the fire, but has found its way not only into Swiss dining rooms in the form of specially built table ovens (raclette ovens). These classic electric table ovens mainly consist of a heating coil in a horizontal or inclined housing, a cheese holder and a device for height adjustment. The raclette cheese is clamped in the holder and guided under the heating coil. Then it is waited until the top layer begins to melt. Ideally, the layer of cheese should brown slightly. The cheese is then removed from the heat source, tilted and "racletted", that is, scraped onto a plate with a suitable spatula, the raclette knife.
2. Oven for cheese slices
For some time there have been table-top devices for melting pre-cut slices of raclette cheese. For this purpose, a horizontal heating coil is mounted at the top in a round, square or oval frame. Several small pans can be inserted underneath and individually topped with cheese. Above the heating coil there is usually a cover made of stone or metal to protect against direct contact with the hot coil and to keep the heat in the device. Since the cover also gets hot, the tin hoods often have recesses that allow mainly meat or fried eggs to be fried or the pans to be preheated. Sometimes crepes can also be prepared on this cover, which is often coated with Teflon . The pans are also used to gratin vegetables and other side dishes with the cheese .
The gases that escape from a Teflon coating when heated to high temperatures can be fatal to some animals, such as caged birds.
3. Raclette stone
Many raclette ovens nowadays have an electrically heated stone. This should be absolutely tasteless and much easier to clean, and grilled food can be fried without oil without it burning.
Web links
- Variety organization Raclette du Valais AOP (SOR) or Interprofession Raclette du Valais AOP (IPR). Founded in March 2009, based in Conthey
- Raclette du Valais, fromage à raclette, raclette in the database of Swiss Culinary Heritage (French)
- Raclette recipes. Retrieved November 12, 2017
- History of the raclette machines. In: ttmsa.ch , accessed on November 12, 2017
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wallissertitschi Weerter, 2nd edition, Rotten Verlag, Visp 1999, pp. 159 and 278.
- ↑ a b Raclette du Valais AOP variety organization (SOR). Retrieved November 12, 2017.
- ↑ a b History of the Valais raclette in the database of Culinary Heritage of Switzerland , accessed on November 13, 2017 (French).
- ↑ Everything about cheese. In: kaesewelten.info , accessed on November 12, 2017.
- ↑ Only genuine Valais raclette. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 17, 2010, accessed on January 3, 2018.
- ^ Association Raclette Suisse. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: raclette-suisse.ch , accessed on November 13, 2017.
- ↑ Entry on Raclette de Savoie in the Database of Origin and Registration (DOOR) of the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission .
- ↑ The three-layer cheese is called Trifolait, November 3, 2017. Canton Valais, Presidium of the Council of State, accessed on November 13, 2017.
- ^ W. Ritter: Walliser Raclette . In: Heinrich Mair-Waldburg (Hrsg.): Handbook of cheese. Cheese of the world from A – Z; an encyclopedia . Volkswirtschaftlicher Verlag, Kempten (Allgäu) 1974, p. 812 .
- ↑ Raclette is deadly for your budgie. In: 20 minutes , December 11, 2013.
- ↑ Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office ( Memento from March 5, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ).
- ↑ Press release of the Federal Veterinary Association .
