419

A raclette just like mine.

The cheese goes on the the little 'shovels' under the grill - 

while other goodies cook and/or stay hot on the top

In this blogposting...

* Raclette

* News from Nowhere

Read and learn...

-----------------------------

RACLETTE
Thanks to the generosity of Papa Noël - and his magical ability to fit large boxes into small suitcases - I am now the only person I know who owns a raclette.

I am not gastronomically well-travelled, so until very recently, I didn’t know what a raclette was.  I had to have the whole scenario demonstrated to me in great and loving detail - what an evening that was!

As a matter of fact, raclette is a whole style of eating.  It originated in western Switzerland and Savoy.  In its earliest, ‘folk’, version, a huge slab of special raclette cheese would be placed in front of a roaring fire.  The melted side would be scraped off and poured over potatoes, other vegetables and cooked meats at the table.

Times have changed though, and raclette (like its sister, the fondue) has migrated from snowy hillsides, goat-bells and blonde plaits to the wider world beyond the mountains and onto many of the kitchen tables of Europe, Newcastle and beyond.  It’s been transformed into a kind of portable, horizontal grill. 

Each diner has their own small ‘shovel’ - a coupelle.   You put a slice of cut raclette cheese on it and slide it under the grill to melt while a bowl of steaming potatoes and various bits of kitchen goodies stays hot on the top.  You can even cook a pancake on the top if you want to.

You take whatever nibbles you want from the top of the grill and scrape the melted cheese from your coupelle over it.  Each person eats what they want, when they want to.  It’s all very sociable and civilised - it’s great fun and usually lasts the whole evening.

I’ve just realised how inadequate that description is.  You’ll just have to pop over and try it!

And a VERY big Thankyou to Papa Noël for enabling me to make that offer!

--------------------------------------

NEWS FROM NOWHERE
Here’s a Christmas pot-pourri (which is French for ‘stinking pot’) of stories, good and bad, that you may have missed…

Children with behavioural and learning difficulties are improving their reading skills with the help of dogs.  A scheme brought dogs into 205 schools this year to help make pupils less nervous and self-conscious, according to the Kennel Club…

The oldest person in Britain braved the weather yesterday to enjoy a Christmas dinner with friends.  Grace Jones, who is 113, left her London home to tuck into a turkey dinner organised by Bermondsey Care for the Elderly.  Local MP Simon Hughes, who is a friend of Grace’s, drove her to the dinner…

Police in Sweden had to intervene yesterday after a foreign visitor to a spa and conference centre became angry because a visiting Santa Claus was wearing a grey suit and not a red one.  No-one was arrested during the incident in Vallsta, 180 miles north of Stockholm…

Huskies are being abandoned in record numbers after being popularised by the Twilight films and the Game of Thrones tv series.  Animal welfare groups have warned that people are buying them and dumping them soon afterwards.  The Siberian Husky Welfare Association is struggling to handle calls from people looking to offload the dogs…

Google and Microsoft produced rival, electronic 'Santa trackers' for excited kids to use over Christmas.  At one point on Monday evening, Microsoft's 'Norad' Santa tracker showed him over Romania, having delivered 2.8 billion gifts, while Google's 'Santa Dashboard' had him over Madagascar at exactly the same time, having delivered a mere 770 million gifts...

Royal Mail is going to mark the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who by issuing eleven stamps on 26 March 2013.  All of the actors who have played the Doctor on tv - from William Hartnell to Matt Smith - will be featured...  

----------------------------------

CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or email me:  truckshunters@googlemail.com