Raclette Demonstration at Chicago French Market, 2/6

Got this press release in email this evening:

WHAT
Raclette Demonstration at Chicago French Market
with famed Chicago Chef Hans Aeschbacher

WHEN
Saturday, February 6
2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

WHERE
Chicago French Market
131 North Clinton Street
Chicago

DETAILS
Raclette is a centuries-old dish indigenous to Switzerland and France. A specialty cheese, known as Raclette, is traditionally heated in front of a fire or by special machine, then scraped onto plates and served with potatoes, cornichon, pickled onions and cured meats.

Chef Hans Aeschbacher will demonstrate the beauty and simplicity of this classic dish from his native Switzerland at the Chicago French Market.

Chef Hans began his career in Switzerland but came to Chicago where he was the chef for eleven years at Lawry's Prime Rib. He was also the executive chef at The Chicago Stadium where he became good friends with many local sports legends, and most recently he worked at Smith and Wollensky and Trader Vic's.

I can't make it on Saturday, but I will add my two cents that raclette is very delicious, and worth going out of your way for. The Swiss know how to each cheese.

I will definitely try to make it. Real raclette kicks butt. Not *quite* the same, though, when it's not in a Alpine lodge, in front of a fireplace.

Melted cheese is always a good option. I'll try to swing by after another event I've got downtown in the morning.

aschie30 wrote:I will definitely try to make it. Real raclette kicks butt. Not *quite* the same, though, when it's not in a Alpine lodge, in front of a fireplace.

I had raclette cheese in a Left Bank place that served only raclette, and I can still see the stylish Parisians carefully skimming every last bit of skin off each potato slice before smearing it with cheese and slurping it down with a quaff of wine.

Somewhat, kinda related...the folks at Roth Kase, humming along in Monroe, WI now under the watchful eyes of Swiss mega cheesemakers Emmi, seem to love to "wash" their cheeses. Roth Kase does a washed fontina that takes a smooth, generally mild cheese and moves it into the adult's only section. So, last time I was at the French Market, the WI cheese people were offering samples of the Roth Kase raclette. And why have raclette when you can have a washed rind raclette. Once agan, a cheesse not especially known for its olafactory assaulted-ness, emerged. It's not the melted cheese you wanna serve for a party, but surely one you can enjoy late at night with a contraband bottle of New Glarus.