The players in the cheese sector are unanimous: for the past few years, there has been a real explosion in sales of raclette cheese.
Obviously, in most cases, to prepare the eponymous dish.
Cheese has the particularity of sharing the same name as the dish that makes it the most comfortable, that is to say melted.
The opening of the raclette season starts with the arrival of cold weather, a bit like skiing starts with the first snow.
Every year, or more exactly every winter, last year's consumption records are beaten.
"
As soon as the thermometer goes down, the raclette phenomenon sets in
", underlines Éric Mainbourg of the Caves d'affinage de Savoie, who works with a dozen farm producers, whose raw milk raclettes he distributes across France to creamers. cheese makers.
"
A raclette is in fact a tomme with a washed rind that is matured for at least two months to obtain this texture and this taste that the heating effect will sublimate
".
The origins of this use would be Swiss, more exactly from the canton of Valais.
A shepherd would have forgotten a piece of cheese on the edge of the chimney and would have recovered it, flowing, on a piece of bread.
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Upmarket
If the Valais raclette has had an AOP since 2003, we obviously produce raclette in the rest of the Alps and the country where an IGP was decreed in... 2017. Only four years ago, could we astonish.
“
At the same time as we observe a growing demand for this cheese, there is a real move upmarket for this product dictated directly by the consumer.
Before, we went to the supermarket to buy an industrial raclette in plastic, today we call on the expertise of a cheese maker to buy a quality product made from raw milk, even organic,
” comments Nicolas Julhès from the eponymous grocery store in Paris, which does not hesitate to compare the evolution of this cheese with that of rosé, which has now become a gastronomic wine.
This increase in consumption is also due to an important thing: we now eat raclette everywhere in France, when we want it and not only in resorts during the holidays.
An observation perfectly understood by Jean-Baptiste Boivin, founder of the lakoop.com sales site which lists some 550 products from Savoie and Haute-Savoie.
“
Raclette represents two out of three sales in the winter period, with a majority of orders coming from very rural areas where cream cheese makers are now not very present.
We have even thought about raclette packs but it is clear that customers prefer to compose their basket themselves
explains the e-merchant who sells charcuterie and wines, both white and red (Mondeuse, Gamay, Chasselas, etc.) that go well with raclette.
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With garlic, truffle or pepper
“
For a raclette, you need 200 grams of cheese per person.
With a price per kilo of around €20 for a raw milk cheese, it's still a very reasonably priced dish for which people don't hesitate to indulge themselves with the sides
”.
Especially since raclette is synonymous with convivial meals where you can gather family and friends in large numbers without spending too much time in the kitchen.
“
It is even without a doubt the meal most in tune with social networks.
And as our life has become a permanent challenge, everyone tries to be original by looking for other cheeses such as Reblochon, Morbier or even Bleu de Gex.
underlines Nicolas Julhès.
The original raclette is not to be outdone either, since cheese makers have started to produce flavored raclettes: smoked, wild garlic, pepper, truffle... "
This movement has also encouraged cheese makers to do a whole lot of research work on the product: the texture and rendering of the oil when toasted, the development of seasonings during ripening…
” explains Eric Mainbourg.
So, does raclette still have its reason to be consumed in the mountains?
“
Yes, of course, because it's always pleasant to taste products as close as possible to their place of production.
So, you shouldn't hesitate to go to cheese producers or refiners to find original quality products,
” he adds.
Nevertheless, it is necessary to be attentive to the price, relatively standardized, and to flee, in particular on the markets, the stands with checkered tablecloths and other folkloric attributes, and even more the traders who do not have refrigerated display cases or a refrigerated truck on site.
"
Restaurants offering raclettes with a real knowledge of the products will always be much more numerous in resorts than in town, where the question of seasonality is not easy to manage in the economic model
” specifies Nicolas Julhès.
Ultimate bonus, the raclon will inevitably be part of the cookware of any apartment or chalet rental.
Good addresses
Les Caves d'affinage de Savoie, an artisan-affineur located in Rognaix.
Savoy ripening cellars / Press photo
The Koop, 100% online
Some 550 products available online in this cooperative representing the best producers in Savoie.
Julhes, in Paris
Seven points of sale and a website for this family and Parisian gourmet grocery store.
The Savoy ripening cellars
, in Rognaix
A shop is located next to the ripening tunnel (open to visitors every Friday at 10 a.m.).
47 Impasse de La Poudrière 73730 Rognaix.
Such.
: +33 (0)4 79 31 82 28. contact@caves-affinage-savoie
Beauty in the thigh
, Val Thorens
Not trivial, an outstanding cheese and charcuterie located in the heart of the highest resort in the Alps.
Rue de Caron, building l'Arcelle 1 73440 Val Thorens.
Such.
: 04 79 00 04 30.
A book:
Haute Raclette, The art of raclette cheese in 52 melting recipes.
Authors: Jennifer & Arnaud Favre, and Pierre Crepeaud.
Photography: Dorian Rollin.
Helvetiq Editions.
ISBN: 978-2-940673-30-8.
Selling price: €24.90.
Published in December 2021, this article is subject to an update.
