Raclette de Savoie IGP

Raclette de Savoie refers to the cheese, not the meal. It is a pressed, uncooked-paste wheel, designed to melt without releasing too much fat or turning stringy. It carries an IGP, alongside Tomme and Emmental de Savoie. The meal of the same name is covered separately, on the raclette page.

A mountain cheese made for melting

The principle of raclette is old: bring a cheese close to the fire and scrape the melted part onto potatoes. So you need a cheese that melts well, evenly, without turning rubbery. Raclette de Savoie meets that brief. Its paste is supple, its moisture level tuned for melting, its taste milder than long-aged cheeses such as beaufort.

Milk, breeds and making

Raclette de Savoie is made from the cow’s milk of the local breeds, Abondance, Montbéliarde and Tarine, like Tomme and Emmental de Savoie. It is a pressed, uncooked paste, aged several weeks, shorter than the great keeping cheeses. The IGP guarantees the Savoyard origin of the milk and the making, whereas many shop “raclette” cheeses come from elsewhere and are Savoyard in name only.

Choosing it well

For a good raclette, take raw-milk cheese if you can, which has more flavour. A half-wheel cut and sliced by the cheesemonger beats industrial plastic-wrapped slices. Count on about 200 g of cheese per person. Alongside plain Raclette de Savoie, you find smoked or peppered versions, but plain stays the reference for appreciating the milk.

Melting it and serving it

Whether you use an electric raclette grill or a half-wheel under a heat lamp, the principle is the same: melt and scrape onto hot potatoes, with charcuterie and gherkins. For the detail of the meal, the sides and the pairings, see the raclette page. A dry, lively Savoie white helps digest the fat: see Savoie wines. To place this cheese among the others, see the Cheeses of Savoie pillar.