As the story goes, I was making my weekly Sunday visit to the Leucadia Farmers Market, making a beeline to my produce vendors, and walking quickly past The Pastrami Stand as I was not planning on indulging that day.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the word “stand,” but above it was not Pastrami, but the word “Raclette,” which made me do a quick double take and stop in my tracks as Raclette is one of my favorite cheeses anywhere and one I have a bit of a history with.
That history starts with my brother Gerry Boylan, who, by way of his home in Empire, Michigan, on the Leelanau Peninsula, years ago, became familiar with Leelanau Cheese in Suttons Bay, renowned for their award-winning Raclette.
Gerry turned me on to it; it was love at first bite for me. As fate had it, I purchased a home in Suttons Bay a few years ago about a mile from Leelanau Cheese, so I’ve had easy access ever since…, and my appreciation for it has only grown — and the owners have made two appearances on Lick the Plate!
With that backstory out of the way, I’ll segue back to the Leucadia Farmers Market and that beautiful Sunday discovery. When I realized the sign said Raclette Stand, I immediately power-walked over and introduced myself to the husband and wife proprietors, Sascha and Sibylle Ploder.
They were busy melting their amazing Raclette over ham and baguette sandwiches for a crowd intrigued by this new and somewhat exotic vendor. I told them about my history with their cheese, ordered a baguette and invited them to Leucadia to record a Lick the Plate show and gather more content for this feature.
The sandwich was fabulous, and I was walking on sunshine for the rest of the day, amazed at my stroke of Raclette luck.
Sascha and Sibylle are fairly recent to San Diego, with Sascha growing up in Bülach near Zürich and Sibylle in Thun near Bern. Both cities are in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, about 100 miles from each other. They had the good fortune of meeting while working for the same company and discovered their mutual love of Raclette, and the idea to take it to San Diego was hatched after Sascha visited San Diego and fell in love with the area.
I wanted to know more about their memories of Raclette and its importance in their culture. Sascha summed it up nicely.
“Being born and raised in Switzerland means for almost everyone that you’re growing up around and with cheese,” he said. “And Raclette provides the most delicious and pleasurable versions of enjoying the greatness of Swiss cheese. Raclette goes along with family traditions all over Switzerland and is meant to be the dish to share with family and friends for big gatherings. Everyone loves Raclette!”
I’m somewhat envious of their upbringing and can only imagine enjoying such world-class cheese with the beauty of Switzerland as the backdrop.
Another question I had was about the difference between French and Swiss Raclette, as Trader Joe’s started carrying a French version recently, and I did not enjoy it nearly as much. Sascha told me that Swiss Raclette tends to be harder and has a longer aging process, and the rind is left on the cheese, making it sharper and more flavorful. I’ve noticed a nutty flavor, which I found very appealing.
Raclette is produced all over Switzerland, but the creamery that they source all their Raclette cheese from, an artisanal creamery called JUMI, is based in the Emmental region, a small valley that lies in the heart of Switzerland close to the Bernese Alps. They source the milk from small farms within a short radius of the creamery. The biggest farmer has around 30 cows, the smallest 5-7 cows, and every cow has a name.
During the summer, they have fresh grass, flowers and herbs from the rich pasture landscape of the picturesque rolling hills in this region to graze. Besides being in direct contact with the creamery, Sascha and Sibylle work with the primary importer in the US.
Regarding consuming it, most traditionally, Raclette is melted on top of small boiled potatoes with the skin on, but you can enjoy it at room temperature on a charcuterie board, too. Pickles (aka little cornichons) and pickled pearl onions, in combination with cheese, are also a smart move. Both of these options are perfect when paired with beer or a glass of wine.
They also mentioned that when you’re invited to a Raclette party, you’ll always find other varieties and combinations, including but not limited to a Swiss Mac and Cheese version called Älpler Makkaroni, or you can create a beautiful Cordon Bleu. It also makes a great melt-on breakfast toast with hash browns called Rösti in Switzerland.
All this, along with the previously mentioned way of melting it on top of ham on a baguette, pretzel or a loaded Raclette hot dog, is what they serve in San Diego.
Sascha and Sibylle have around 3-4 set-ups a week, popping up at various breweries and wineries all over San Diego County. The schedule is always posted on their Instagram account @theraclettestand and their website and Facebook.
The Raclette Stand is at the Leucadia Farmers Market — one of their favorite locations — at least once a month. They also offer catering that is sure to impress your guests.
My advice is to connect with these splendid folks and enjoy their Raclette concoctions soon.
More at www.theraclettestand.com
