-
Recipe: vanilla, rum, and orange zest cannelés
Japanese pastry chef Mori Yoshida creates refined cakes and desserts, some in the classic French style, others with a unique flourish or twist
-
French strawberries: the best varieties and when to eat them
Columnist Sue Adams gives her tips on how to get the best out of the long season in France
-
Which fruits, vegetables and fish are in season in France this May?
Household favourites including courgettes and strawberries become commonplace this month
'Vegetables? No charcuterie? That's not a raclette!'
A British Twitter user has attracted mockery from Âé¶¹´«Ã½Ó³» after posting photos of her first raclette which included no charcuterie and unusual additions like fruits, olives and a variety of different cheeses.

“My first time having raclette, and I’m in love,†posted Katie Aidley from Brighton.
“Sorry, but it’s not at all a racletteâ€, responded Twitter user Sophie de Ravinel, adding shocked and laughing-to-tears smileys to her post.
“What’s up with all these vegetables? Where is the charcuturie?,†demanded Charlotte Picard, while another user, Fizzle, said: “Eh? There are dried apricots and and prunes, it’s a maroclette, I think.â€
“…what she shows is not a real raclette because there is camembert and fruits and vegetables which is kind of weird,†OnePlayer21 opined, while 30-Something from Alsace said “the only vegetables allowed in a raclette are picklesâ€.
Others took to posting their own ‘first versions’ of food:
My first tartiflette. Love it.
— Rucan / 🇨🇵💻🚀🎮 (@Rucan69)
My first choucroute and il love it so much
— Gibon Compte Officiel (@LeGibon)
My first fish and chips 💪
— Crit Hair 5 ðŸŒ»âœ‚ï¸ (@Jackyri_)
The photos Katie posted show raclette cheese but also what looks like morbier and reblochon (identified by some users as camembert), whereas the traditional meal involves only raclette cheese.
However it turns out that the version with charcuterie that is popular in France is a relatively recent invention and the original dish, which comes from the Valais area of Switzerland just involved raclette cheese, boiled potatoes – and picked vegetables, according to the , a group of experts in Swiss terroir products.
En réalité, la raclette accompagnée 2 légumes qu’a dégusté Katie se rapproche bien + de la raclette traditionnelle Suisse qu’on ne l’imagine.Inventée au Moyen-Age, la raclette se dégustait principalement avc D P2T en robe des champs et un accompagnement de légumes au vinaigre. ;)
— Actal (@tataal25)
The Swiss site clarifies that the cheese should be called le raclette while the dish is la raclette (however in France both are often referred to in the feminine).
The name raclette comes from racler, to scrape. Originally big half wheels of cheese would be melted before an open wood fire and the molten cheese scraped off with a knife.
Stay informed:
Sign up to our free weekly e-newsletter
Subscribe to access all our online articles and receive our printed monthly newspaper The Connexion at your home. News analysis, features and practical help for English-speakers in France