08/05/2026
For five days a year, a deliciously stinky wheel of cheese takes over our lives. Here’s why 🧀
With Raclette season back, we thought we’d share a little about the cheese behind the melt: Raclette itself.
The word “Raclette” comes from the French word racler, meaning “to scrape”, which is exactly how it’s traditionally served. A wheel of Raclette is heated until perfectly gooey, then scraped straight onto food while bubbling hot. So not only is Raclette the cheese we use at our Melts, it’s also the name of the dish itself!
As simple as scraping melted cheese onto bread or potatoes sounds, there’s something about the experience of it that feels just a little bit magical.
Originating in the Swiss Alps, Raclette became popular among farmers who would melt cheese by the fire and scrape it over potatoes after a long day in the mountains. Traditionally, it’s served with potatoes, pickles, cured meats and crusty bread, though there are now plenty of different ways to enjoy it.
The Raclette wheels we use are pretty big, weighing between 5.5kg and 6.5kg each. If you’ve ever wondered what goes down on Melt day, here’s the gist: we cut a wheel in half and place both halves onto one of our grills. A heating element slowly melts the exposed surface until it’s bubbling, golden and perfectly oozy. Once it’s ready, we tip the melter on an angle and scrape the cheese straight onto fresh baguette before topping it with prosciutto and cornichon pickles.
Just writing this makes us hungry! 🤤
If you’ve never tried Raclette before, the dish or cheese itself, consider this your sign 🧀🔥
