Raclette

A wheel or block of raclette cheese melted and scraped directly onto boiled potatoes, pickles and cured meats.

Raclette originates from the canton of Valais in the Swiss Alps, where herders traditionally melted a wheel of cheese by an open fire and scraped the melted layer onto bread or potatoes — the name comes from the French racler, meaning "to scrape." It was originally a herder's meal eaten out on the mountainside, later becoming formalized as a shared indoor social meal, especially in winter, with the invention of tabletop electric raclette grills in the 20th century making it easy to recreate at home.

True raclette uses a specific semi-hard cow's milk cheese also called raclette, melted either against an open flame and scraped, or on small individual pans under a tabletop grill. It is served hot straight onto boiled potatoes, not cold.