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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Valais
Half a wheel of cheese held close to the fire, with the melted part scraped onto the plate and served with boiled potatoes in their skins, pickled cornichons and pearl onions. It originated in Valais and was presented as a Valais national dish in 1909.
Traditional dish from Valais
Also known as: Raclette du Valais, fromage rôti
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Raclette — Valais, Switzerland
Raclette is the dish of Valais. Half a wheel of fatty cheese is placed in front of a fire or a heating element, and the melted surface is scraped with a knife onto the diner’s plate. The name comes from the French verb racler, to scrape. In Valais, la raclette refers to the dish and le raclette to the cheese.
The practice of melting cheese by the fire is old among the shepherds and peasants of Valais, and for a long time the dish was called fromage rôti, roasted cheese. The term raclette appears in French texts from 1874. In 1909, at the Cantonal Exhibition in Sion, raclette was presented as a “mets national valaisan,” a Valais national dish, and the image of scraped cheese with potato became established from then on. The 1964 National Exhibition in Lausanne brought the dish to fame in the rest of Switzerland and beyond.
The cheese used in Valais is Raclette du Valais, a raw cow’s milk, semi-hard cheese produced only in the canton and protected as AOP since 2007. Each wheel bears the mark of the dairy or pasture of origin, and each region has its own flavor.
The traditional service is done little by little: the person who scrapes the cheese serves one portion at a time, eaten hot before the next portion is served. It is accompanied by boiled potatoes in their skins, pickled cornichons and pearl onions, black pepper and sometimes local cured meats. In Valais, the beverage most associated is the white wine Fendant, made from the Chasselas grape, or hot tea.
Outside the canton, raclette is also prepared on tabletop appliances with small individual pans, a practical form that spread through Swiss homes.
Valais
Dish born in Valais, presented as a Valais national dish in 1909; the cheese is a canton AOP.
Raclette du Valais AOP cheese (or another raclette cheese), boiled potatoes in their skins, pickled cornichons and pearl onions, black pepper; sometimes Valais cured meat and bread.
In successive portions: the melted cheese is scraped onto the plate, eaten hot with potato and pickles, and another portion is served afterward. In Valais, it is accompanied by white Fendant wine or tea.
A communal dish, especially from autumn through late winter; also served at village festivals and year-round at mountain resorts.
Your questions
In Valais, la raclette is the dish, and le raclette is the cheese used to prepare it.
Raclette du Valais, a raw cow’s milk cheese produced only in the canton and protected as AOP since 2007.
Boiled potatoes in their skins, pickled cornichons and pearl onions, and black pepper. In Valais, it is common to drink white Fendant wine or tea.
Flavors of Switzerland
The solid chocolate bar that made Switzerland a world reference from the 19th century onward, with mechanized production by Cailler, Daniel Peter’s milk chocolate in Vevey, and Rodolphe Lindt’s conching in Bern.
Melted cheese with white wine in a caquelon, kept warm over a burner, into which each person dips bread cubes on a long fork. Promoted as a national dish from the 1930s onward, it is served across Switzerland in the cold months.
Hard honey biscuit with almonds, hazelnuts, candied orange and lemon peel and kirsch, covered by a thin layer of sugar. Mentioned in Basel at least since 1711, it is the city’s most closely associated sweet specialty.
Large platter with several cooked and smoked meats and sausages, served over sauerkraut and green beans, with potatoes. It is the festive dish of Bernese cuisine, traditionally linked to the victory at Neuenegg in 1798.
Grated potato patty fried in butter until a golden crust forms on both sides. It was the breakfast of peasants in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, including the canton of Bern, and became a symbol of German-speaking Switzerland, even lending its name to the Röstigraben.
Dry, crunchy meringues served with Gruyère crème double, a thick cream with at least 45% fat. The quintessential dessert of the Bénichon feast, it is one of the symbols of the Gruyère region in the canton of Fribourg.
Chocolate cauldron bearing the coat of arms of Geneva, filled with marzipan vegetables and sweets, which is broken at the end of the Escalade celebration in December. It recalls the legend of Mère Royaume and the defense of the city on the night of December 11–12, 1602.
Shortcrust pastry tart, closed on top, filled with chopped walnuts coated in caramel and cream. It is the best-known sweet specialty of Graubünden, linked to pastry chefs who emigrated from the Engadine to work elsewhere in Europe.
Chard leaf rolls filled with spätzli-like dough and Bündnerfleisch (air-dried beef) or local salami, cooked in broth and milk and gratinated with cheese. Emblematic dish of Graubünden, originating in the Surselva, with as many recipes as there are families.
Puff-pastry dome filled with veal, meatballs, mushrooms and raisins in a creamy sauce. It’s named for the city and canton of Lucerne and is also called Fritschipastete, after the local carnival figure.
Dense cake made from day-old bread soaked in milk, with cocoa, amaretti, raisins, pine nuts and often a splash of grappa. Born from a desire not to waste bread, it is considered the quintessential Ticino sweet and every family has its own recipe.
Distilled from wormwood, anise, and fennel, green or colorless, served diluted with cold water and turning cloudy when mixed. Production began in the Val-de-Travers, in the canton of Neuchâtel, at the end of the 18th century, and it was banned in Switzerland from 1910 to 2005.
Rustic purée of leek and potato cooked in water and white wine, served with saucisse aux choux, a smoked pork-and-cabbage sausage. It is the best-known culinary specialty of the canton of Vaud and is part of its intangible heritage.
Layered cake of almond meringue discs and a sponge soaked in kirsch syrup, with buttercream, covered with almonds and powdered sugar in a diamond pattern. Created in Zug by pastry chef Heinrich Höhn, who advertised it in 1915.
A mixture of soaked rolled oats, grated apple, walnuts or almonds, lemon and milk, created around 1900 by physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients at his clinic in Zurich. It gave rise to the muesli eaten worldwide.
Thin strips of veal sautéed and served in a cream, white wine and mushroom sauce. It’s the dish Zurich residents name first when talking about the city’s cuisine, almost always accompanied by rösti.
