raclette

noun

ra·​clette ra-ˈklet 

rä-

: a Swiss dish consisting of cheese melted over a fire and then scraped onto bread or boiled potatoes

also : the cheese used in this dish

Examples of raclette in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Don’t tap out quite yet, there’s still melty raclette warming over a tea candle. —Elazar Sontag, Bon Appétit, 9 Sep. 2024

Caramelized spring leeks, spinach and raclette cheese come together for a hot and melty dip alongside wonton chips dusted with Kool Ranch seasoning. —Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2024

So says Silvan Kraemer, co-owner of Stable, popular for its fondue, raclette and other warming comfort foods. —Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 26 June 2024

The Park Place location also has a pizza oven and offers such varieties as margherita, Hawaiian and raclette (olive oil, raclette cheese, mozzarella, prosciutto and steamed potatoes). —Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 24 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, borrowed from Swiss French (Valais) (perhaps originally from a Franco-Provençal form), from racler "to scrape, even or clean by scraping" (going back to Middle French raicler, racler, borrowed from Old Occitan rasclar, going back to Vulgar Latin *rāsclāre, syncopated from *rāsiculāre, iterative from rāsus, past participle of rādere "to scrape, scratch, pare away, shave") + -ette, deverbal suffix marking place or object of an action; so called because the cheese was traditionally melted and scraped from a larger piece onto the other ingredients; as a name for a cheese, short for fromage à raclette — more at rase, -ette

First Known Use

circa 1949, in the meaning defined above