A gloomy start to the school year, plummeting temperatures, torrential rains, days that are inexorably shortening… We have barely entered autumn when the winter tunnel to come already promises to be interminable. So wouldn’t it be high time to comfort yourself with a good big, melting raclette?
So yes, we know, there is not really a season to indulge in, some even say that it is in fact a summer dish, patati patata… Perhaps, but it is difficult not to not feel a pang of guilt about wanting to start hostilities a bit earlier than usual. When can we eat our first raclette without scruples?
“The raclette has arrived”
A few have already jumped into the water. As evidenced by some of the 1,500 members of “ La Racletterie », one of the many Facebook accounts run by raclette enthusiasts. “The season is open!” », announced one of them on September 22, supporting photo. “The season is on! », wrote another Internet user, in the caption of a video of half a wheel being meticulously scraped, two days ago.
As for the cheese shops too, the time for raclette has come. Like the Laiterie de Paris – which has several stores in the capital – where this cheese made its debut last weekend. “When I put up my sign saying “the raclette has arrived”, everyone took a photo of it, it was very funny,” laughs cheesemaker Pierre Coulon. An event that Parisians were impatiently awaiting? “A few customers jumped on it but many also said it was too early,” he admits. Trial and error which was felt in sales.
“This weekend, each shop sold 2 cheeses, so 10 kg, whereas in season we spend almost 100 kg per week and per shop, so 10 times more,” specifies the cheesemaker.
A question of weather and seasonality
But when is raclette season? For Pierre Coulon, it really begins in mid-October and ends at the end of February, beginning of March, if the bitter cold persists. He explains: “We have to take into account two factors for raclette: the weather, which has a big impact, and despite everything, the season. We have creamery and cheese customers who are also grocery and greengrocer customers, and there, they still benefit a little from the last tomatoes. »
Nothing prevents you from pairing an early raclette with the last zucchini or eggplant of the year. Be careful, however, with the seasonality of these cheeses produced at the end of spring/beginning of summer and which require several months of maturing.
“The optimal tasting period for Raclette de Savoie cheese extends from October to December after maturing for 4 to 5 months, but it is also excellent from August to April,” it is specified. on the Androuet house websitean institution in the world of cheese.
“What can be complicated is the very start of the season. The cheeses we receive in September can be too young or too old,” emphasizes the cheesemaker from Laiterie de Paris. In our case, the planets seem to align, right? There remains one more detail: guilt.
Lighten your plate (and your conscience)
Because we’re not going to lie, what really slows us down in this story is rather the idea of stuffing ourselves with melted cheese – and the cold meats and potatoes that go with it – just a few weeks later the return of the summer holidays, when it’s not yet (really) cold… As if it were a little less serious to eat raclette when the temperatures approach zero?
“We eat more in winter because we want invigorating, warm, comforting dishes, etc. But we store in the same way,” recalls Marie-Laure André, dietitian-nutritionist.
We also tell ourselves that if we start a little earlier, the raclette season will potentially be a little longer and therefore proportionately a little more caloric. And that’s not wrong, without counting all the other “rich” menus that await us. “We should perhaps take advantage of the fall season to eat more balanced and not overindulge because we will have more at the end of the year,” emphasizes the dietician.
Yes, raclette is a particularly high-calorie and very salty dish. But a few tips can help you lighten it (and ease your conscience). If you can’t do without cold meats, Marie-Laure André recommends choosing less fatty cuts such as white ham or Graubünden meat. And instead of stuffing yourself with potatoes, try incorporating small sliced mushrooms or vegetables like cauliflower and broccoli florets.
The cancoillotte option
“If you really want to stick with traditional raclette cheese, you can try to limit the quantity by cutting the slices in half so you feel like you’re eating as much as usual,” suggests the dietitian. You can also replace it with a much leaner cheese like cancoillotte.
Finally, don’t forget that this little guilty pleasure must remain exceptional, whatever the season. “When you have eaten raclette the night before, the next day, you have simpler, less fatty, less salty meals. We hydrate and exert ourselves a little more,” advises Marie-Laure André. Ready to pull out your raclette grills and frying pans?