Raclette Party Contest: who would you most like to melt some cheese with?
Boska USA, purveyors of fine cheese gadgetry and upholders of great European cheese traditions, recently sent along a sweet set of photographs of an event they'd held with the help of Jason Sobocinski, host of the Cooking Channel's The Big Cheese. Now, besides looking overwhelmingly delicious, the photos got me thinking—especially this one:
If y'all don't know about raclette yet, it's an upside-down fondue, more or less. You take cooked potatoes, pickles, ham and assorted treats, and scrape molten cheese on top. It's one of those things you do with friends and family, an occasion where you sit around with people you love, drinking wine, talking, and goofing around. It's a good time, not too serious. So here's the question:
What people, living or dead, would you most like to have over for raclette?
Answers can be historical, allegorical, folklorical, or actual living people. Name who's in your raclette party, why you'd like to feed them cheese, and what particular victuals you'd be draping with that sweet golden fromage, and you could win a barbeclette from Boska USA!
The barbeclette is a handy device which makes perfectly melted cheese a snap. Just slip a slice of your favorite cheese into its non-stick tray, and drop it on the grill or griddle and you'll have yourself a perfectly gooey slice of molten goodness in a minute or two. It's perfect for outdoor cooking, whether you want to make traditional raclette or a very serious cheeseburger.
So don't wait, log in with a valid email (so we can contact you if you win) and post your raclette party people below. We will pick a winner June 29, just in time for grillin' season.
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What an exciting proposition! First my two amazing cheese loving children: Chloe....simply because I love her and she loves all things cheese, and Max.....simply because I love him and his innate ability to choose foods to tantalize the palate (he would be in charge of adding to my basic list of crusty baguette and baby red potatoes), then on to my lovely boyfriend Robert....simply (again) because I love him and his ability to assemble anything and read directions....my long time friend and neighbor Kathy, yes, the love thing but more for her glorious ability to savor food and eat quantities that do not show up on her statuesque physique....and, drum roll.....my sister, Sabrina (yes, the lovey dovey part) and because she has a viciously unique knack to make deliciousness out of whatever there is on hand. We would talk and eat and laugh and tell stories and enjoy wine and raclette. But mostly we would get to all hang out together, which we just don't get to do nearly enough anymore.
<3 Andre
Pierre Robert
I think I would invite Robert Rouzaire, the inventor of Pierre Robert. He would appreciate the different ways cheeses are enjoyed. Of course I'd ask him to bring his buddy Pierre. Then I could say I had dinner with Pierre Robert! We'd have to eat our raclette on a baguette... they're French.
I would invite jamie oliver
I would invite jamie oliver and rick bayless. Both make food that I die over all the time. We could put together an amazing menu around the raclette.
Rockin' Raclette
I probably owe my adult passion for cheese to the fictional mouse Anatole from the children's books by Eve Titus, so Anatole would have to top the guest list. Cheesemonger Gordon Edgar would be next, as I owe a good bit of my adult knowledge of cheese to "Cheesemonger: Life on the Wedge." Then there's Alex, from the Surdyk's cheese counter in Minneapolis. His recommendations never falter, so this would be a nice way to repay the favor. Each of those three would of course get a plus 1. I'd add my sweetheart Hector to the mix, my stepdad and Culture subscriber Jay (as he's seldom happier than when settled in front of a top-flight cheese), and our neighborhood friends Kathy, Steve, Katie and Doug, since they're great conversationalists, wonderful people, and very fond of cheese. Potatoes would be locally sourced through the Just Food Co-op (which itself has an excellent cheese counter, though much smaller than that of Surdyk's). We'd add cornichons, miche from Patisserie 46 in Minneapolis, jambon de pays if we could track that down, pickled onions, sausages from the St. Paul Cheese Shop, grilled asparagus, a salad of local baby greens with a light vinaigrette (p. 147 from the original Silver Palate Cookbook), and fresh berries in season to follow. For those needing something sweeter, we'd have Sonny's Cherry Zinfandel Sorbet on hand. I know Swiss wine is one way to go with raclette, but I'm a sucker for a good Grüner Veltliner, so might lean in that direction along with Belgian beer for the beer fans in the crowd. Mmm! We might have to invite Kathy, Steve, Katie, Doug, and Jay over whether there's a new barbeclette in the house or not! Thanks for the inspiration!
Northfield Kathryn
Disregarding language
Disregarding language barriers, some of which being very serious, here's my list:
Eratosthenes - He was the first person to calculate the circumference of the earth, he invented latitude and longitude, he measured the tilt of the earth's axis, invented the leap day, coined the word 'geography,' called out Aristotle for being a huge racist, and he was the first to attempt a rigid history of the Trojan War, basically inventing scientific chronology. He did all this around 200 BCE, which makes it even more impressive, considering his 'map of the world' was essentially Egypt and the surrounding areas.
Albert Camus - Brilliant writer and someone who can appreciate a good cheese.
Anthony Bourdain - too easy.
Madame de Pompadour - possibly one of the best dinner guests in history. As a child, before becoming mistress to Louis XV, she was so charming that her mother nicknamed her "Reinette," meaning "little queen" which is really close to rennet. So that's a bonus, I guess.
Raclette
I've always wanted to meet Sir Richard Branson, so he's definitely on the list. I admire him as an entrepreneur and business man. I'm also dying to go on Virgin Galactic and would hope that a raclette dinner might launch me into space!
My former business partner, Leslie and my husband would be a good foursome. Leslie and I would always go to a little raclette restaurant in Paris (that no longer exists) whenever we were there on business and it was cold & raw out. They made it the traditional way, melting the cheese over a fire and scraping it on to your plate, with a crock of steamed potatoes and that wonderful jambon de pays. We would totally stuff ourselves and roll out into the night, fat and happy!
I'd serve it in the traditional way, going to the farmer's market here to get the right little potatoes. Probably search high & low for a reasonable replacement for jambon de pays, but the cornichons and pickled onions are easily found. And a really good earthy Burgundy to wash it all down! Yummm!!!
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I'd invite "racy" people for
I'd invite "racy" people for my raclette party. Mae West, for one. The Marqis De Sade, who was the raciest librarian EVER, what's hotter than a racy man. Catherine the Great was historically great at many things, some of them not mentionable in polite society. Then again, this is a racy<i> raclette party, so come on over Kate! Marie Antionette is on the "in" list, but she's have to watch the drink and keep her head. Mata Hari is in-like I could keep her out! Why not Cleopatra? We'll just hide the fruit bowls and tell her to watch her asp. Aleister Crowley could come (google it and you'll get the pun). I'll stock extra for Henry the Eighth, but keep him and Marie far apart. Caligula is one fun guy, little boots or not, but leave the horse at home, please-I keep politics out of my parties. Mozart can play us a little tune, maybe his famed "Leck mir den Arsch fein recht schön sauber " (google THAT, if you dare!). Napoleon could round it out, but he'd have to find his, ahem, parts from whomever bought them last. I think Valentino would round it out nicely, too. Frankly, with all this historical hotness, we may not need much help melting the cheese!
Melt with you
As you'll see in a moment, I'm a HUGE Food Network fan; if I'm having a food party I'd have to include Alton Brown and Alex Guarnachelli. I imagine the conversation would start with what cheese we should melt, Alex might prefer traditional Swiss, but I double Alton would adhere to narrow parameters and would bring a assortment of fermented dairy so we could all compare taste texture and even melting time.
Once we decide on the cheese, there are so many varieties of potatoes, and pickles - we could make ourselves dizzy with all the possible combinations! I'd have to make a batch of pickles from Alton's recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/dill-pickles-recipe/index.html) and another from Alex (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alexandra-guarnaschelli/quick-and-easy-pickles-recipe/index.html) and the potatoes too would get the Alex vs Alton treatment. Can you imagine a happier food heaven?
The two of them with an assortment of melting cheeses, pickles, and potatoes should be a full evening, but I must also include my new mentor Ragan Christian (http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com/) because I want to show how grateful I am for her 9remote) guidance by sharing this luscious, melty, goodness with her.
I would invite . . .
I'd invite . . . well, ME, to start with, because (confidentially) I've never had raclette before and I'd love to try it. I would need someone to show me how to do raclette and I love listening to The Splendid Table, so I think I'd invite Lynne Rosetto Kasper. I think I'd want at least one Swiss person at the party, since I'd need authenticity. Jung was Swiss, so I'd invite him, because he could show me how to do raclette and analyze me at the same time! Finally, I'd invite the handsome guy in the picture, holding a sleeping baby in one hand and eating raclette with the other, because he looks like he knows what he's doing!
Raclette
I'd be willing to have basically anyone over for raclette because I looove it!
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