Raclette

It's no secret that traveling presents some pretty wonderful opportunities to experience new foods, customs and cuisines!   A recent "sister-in-laws" trip to Switzerland was chock full of some really magical moments. As we sat in a lovely garden terrace in Geneva on Saturday night, sipping delicious Swiss wine, eating grilled perch from Lake Leman and enjoying the full moon and the fireworks, we reviewed some of the food highlights of the trip. Other than the fresh sun-kissed vegetables, the highlight of the trip had to be the rich, flavourful dairy products and the Simmental beef. After all, we were surrounded by cows all week.  We woke to the sound of the cow bells every morning, encountered them on our daily hikes in the mountains and joined in the celebration of their gifts at a few of the village Alpenfahrts (cow festivals - when the cows are brought down from their summer homes high in the mountains to the lower meadows for the winter).

Whether  eaten  as veal in a rich mushroom sauce, as cheese in raclette, frothy milk in cafe machiatto, or rare steak, it was always fantastic! Did we mention the ice-cream, butter and yoghurt?

Cafe Macchiato and hot chocolate on the terrace of the Victoria-Jungrau Grand Hotel in Interlaken

Simmental beef steak

 One day, high in the mountains, we came across a family run restaurant, where everything that was served was grown on their farm and prepared in their kitchen: cheese for fondue and raclette, ham and sausage, whipping cream, ice cream, eggs, vegetables, honey, bread. The menu was simple and perfect!

We had a lot of hiking to do before lunch.

When we saw these cows, we knew that we were close to the Hüsliberg

We decided to try to recreate the raclette at home:

 Traditional Raclette
No need for a raclette grill for this simple recipe. All you need is your barbecue and 2

small cast iron or heavy enameled flat pans.

• 12 fingerling potatoes   
  
• 500 gr Raclette Cheese
• 1 jar pickled gherkin cucumbers (cornichons)
• freshly ground pepper
• paprika

Wash potatoes and boil in a pot filled with salted water for about 20 min. Leave the skin on! Test with a knife if the potatoes are done. Keep warm until ready to use in an insulated potato bag. Preheat the barbecue on HIGH for 5 minutes, reduce to LOW.  In the meantime remove the rind of the cheese and cut into 1/16" thick slices using a cheese slicer. Place the cheese in the cast iron pans, place the pans directly on the grids and allow the cheese to thoroughly melt. It takes approximately 5 minutes to melt to a creamy consistency. Remove from the grill and place on trivets between guests. In the meantime take a potato and some pickles, place them onto your plate and cut them into a few pieces. Using your wooden spatula, if you have them, or small butter knives, scoop some cheese onto your plate, along with the potato and pickles and enjoy. Season to taste with freshly ground pepper and paprika.

Tobias and his family grow and make everything that they serve in their mountain top restaurant. Even the lavender is used to flavour the rich ice cream and by the bees to make honey.

After that delicious lunch, we were delighted to encounter these scooters to rent to take us down to the train station.