Fondue
 

I purchased a jar of seasoning called "Racellette + Fondue" when in Switzerland but am not sure what to do with it. I'm guessing it's a seasoning for fondue, but not sure what to mix with it. Anyone know how you are supposed to use it?

Raclette is both a type of cheese and a national Swiss dish, wherein a wheel of cheese is heated until correct consistency is reached, then scraped onto a dish of boiled potaoes, gherkins, pickles, pearl onions, and sometimes dried meat.
I would guess that your seasonings might be used either for this dish or as an additive to fondue....

I can't say that I have ever has raclette with seasonings added to it (and I have eaten a lot over the years). The cheese has a delightfull tast all on it's own. however I have had fondue with extra seasoning added. here's what I would do, buy a pre-made package of fondue cheese (they show up at teh grocer this time of year or buy cheese per a fondue recipe that you have. I would remove some heated cheese and add a small pinch of the seasonings and see if you like it better. It may be too much - the cheese should stand alone. Another option may be to use the seasonings on the food for the fondue. Perhaps toast the bread slightly or dust some boiled potatoes.

Raclette IS cheese, so this is confusing. I've also never had raclette with seasonings (it has such a godawful - to me - taste to begin with it doesn't need seasoning per se).

Can you google the manufacturer to get some further information?

For fondue just take a clove of garlic, cut it in half, and rub it on the inside of the fondue pot. Add the wine, and the cheese once the wine is heated. When the cheese is melted, add a small pinch of nutmeg. A shot of kirsch also is added at the end. I can't imagine any other seasoning.

After several years of war on the raclette front, the Swiss Tribunal Federal decided in 2007 that raclette was not a cheese but a dish.

http://www.20minutes.fr/article/1926...un-fromage.php

But raclette as a cheese from Switzerland is still sold in the States.

Velveeta is also sold as a cheese in the States........ :-((

Actually <i>raclette</i> can be used to name a cheese. Any cheese can be called that according to the Swiss tribunal. It just does not have an Appelation d'Origine Controlée. My experience is that what is called raclette is a softer and more pungent cheese in the gruyère family. So if you want to call Velveeta raclette, there is nothing to stop you from the raclette side. The makers of Velveeta may want to protect their brand name.

It\s refreshing to know that the Swiss tribunal is reflecting on such serious matters.

I also am confused. As already clarified raclette IS cheese. Fondue is made of cheese(s). I'm not sure what a spice mix has to do with either one.

Ayone have a good recipe for cheese fondue? I've lost mine.

Michael already gave it to us above.

The cheese for fondue should be 12 oz. of Gruyère and 16 oz. of Emmental. Rub the dish with a clove of garlic cut in half, remove the garlic. Add a pint of dry white wine. When it comes to a low boil, gradually add the grated cheese and keep on stirring in a figure 8 until all the cheese is melted. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil, slowly add the 1 oz. of kirsch in which 2 tsp. of cornstarch has been mixed, stirring constantly. season with pepper and a dash of nutmeg. Remove pot from stove and place at the table on chafing dish stand with flame regulated so that the fondue just barely remains at a boil.

There will always be something remaining at the bottom of the pot. The scrapings should not be tossed out. They make a wonderful addition to an omelet the next day.

Having lived in the Val de Bagnes for over 20 years - where the cheese is made which is the appelation contrôlée cheese for the dish called "Raclette" I can confirm - even assert! - that the name of the official cheese to make Raclette with is "Bagnes". Beware of imitations, as they say.

The word "raclette" comes from the verb "racler" which means to scrape. In other words, the raclette is the scrapeing from the cheese.

As to Fondue. The old way of making it was 2/3rds Gruyère and 1/3rd Emmental. (What the Americans persist in calling "Swiss cheese".) More recently a new recipe has become very popular here in Switzerland - we call it "moitié-moitié" or half and half and it is 50% Gruyère and 50% Vacherin from Fribourg. Please note this is not the Vacherin Mont d'Or from the Jura! You cannot grate the Fribourg vacherin easily so it needs to be cut into very small cubes before it is melted. Here is a recipe:

1. take a terra cotta cooking pot - the "caquelon" - and rub it with a half clove of garlic.
2. Use 1 décilitre of white wine per person. (A déci is roughly one half of a US cup.) Heat the wine in the caquelon until hot but not boiling.
3. Add the grated cheese (or chopped if Vacherin). You need 150g total per person. (About 5.25oz). Stir until melted.
4. Mix one teaspoon of maizena (corn starch) with a little kirsch and add to the mixture. This makes it bind together.

Serve. In the past we used to just eat the fondue with cubes of bread. These days the cornichons and pearl onions are often also put on the table, as with Raclette. This adds a nice taste. All you need to do is to spear part of a cornichon or a whole little onion and dip it in the fondue.

Be careful what you drink with fondue. Do not drink cold water, for example. White wine is better for the digestion but if you do not drink wine, try some black tea without milk. We also tend to have a small glass of Kirsch with our fondues - and we call this "le coup de milieu". If you dip your bread into the kirsch before dipping it into the fondue it is really yummy!!

Regarding alcoholic drinks to accompany cheese fondue, I read only a week ago or so here on a local paper in Geneva, Switzerland, according to very recent cetain "scientific" research, drinking alcohol does NOT help the digestion. it said the best was tea. I think it said black tea but am not sure.

In addition to the <i>coup du milieu</i>, if someone drops a crouton in the fondue, s/he is to take a shot of kirsch bottoms up.

Many thanks Hambagle! A good lesson for this eve before Christmas Eve ... no I just ned to find true Bagnes ..... Oh Santa!

OK - it's barely been a half hour and our Doorman just arrived with a 6 lb box of cheese from my Aunt in Wisconsin. Granted it's not cheese from Bagnes, but the 1.5 lb of Rosenberg Bleu that she sent will be history in short order..... maybe there is a Santa!