Customer Reviews

Raclette (Quick & Easy)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you want to buy a good raclette book, buy Raclette: The Insider's Guide to the Secret World of Raclette Dining and not this book here by Claudia Schmidt.

This Christmas my friends showered me with gifts about my new found passion: Raclette. I received everything I asked for, including all four books about raclette that exist in English: This book by Claudia Schmidt titled Raclette (Quick & Easy), Raclette: The Insider's Guide to the Secret World of Raclette Dining, Swissmar Raclette Recipes and Raclette Recipe Book By Trudeau.

Unfortunately, the first very big disappointment was that out of these four books a total of three are actually identical! This book by Claudia Schmidt received a different cover from both Swissmar and Trudeau without any changes to the content. This in itself would cause me to give a zero rating as no sufficient warning was given to this effect. (I must however admit that at least one fellow reviewer did point out this "ripoff", my friends simply didn't read it.)

But even more disappointing is how bad this book compares with The Insider's Guide to Raclette. This book does not even talk about the traditional raclette! It wastes valuable space (it is only 64 pages) with tips what to drink (as if that could not be told in a few words: up to you!), salads and other side dishes and full page table of content pages for each subsection of a few pages! This leaves only about 40 pages (including 20 pages of photos) of "real" content... If you do not have a hot stone on top of your raclette grill, well you're down to about 30 pages including pictures.

So how do these 30 pages (15 pages of recipes) compare to Raclette Australia's 96 pages book? If you have grown up with raclette and are getting bored of having the same recipes again and again, then Claudia's book is not bad if you buy it for less than $3. But if you are new to raclette, don't buy it, go straight to the obvious choice: The Insider's Guide to Raclette. The Insider's Guide explains history and present developments of all things raclette in a way only an insider can, without ever getting boring, it is oozing with knowledge that Claudia Schmidt unfortunately either doesn't possess or simply forgot to write about. The Insider's Guide contains traditional and modern raclette recipes plus so much more. See also my review on that book.

In summary: Don't buy Claudia Schmidt's book, go for the better choice instead, The Insider's Guide to Raclette.

The father of one of my closest friends is French and their family, on special occasions, has traditional raclette dinners. The dish raclette--a warm cheese dish--is thought to have originated in Switzerland where farmers and herdsman would make a meal of cheese melted by campfire or hearth, scraped over potatoes and pickles. Whenever eating with my friend's family, we would eat those same traditional foods: racelette for the cheese, several kinds of hams, boiled potatoes, cornichons, and onions.

Loving the communal, largely cook-it-yourselves meals, I bought a raclette grill. But, I had never been in charge of the meal's preparations so with it, I purchased this little book sight unseen. It is fabulous. I'd give it six stars if I could. Not only does it provide useful tips, like how much food to make per person, including how much cheese you should buy for each person attending the dinner; how to care for and clean your grill; how to contain the scent of the raclette party (lots of cooking cheese) and what to do afterwards if you are unsuccessful (among other suggestions, an orange studded with cloves); what to do with the leftovers (if any!); and a simple but very valuable how-to guide for the host or hostess, but it also provides excellent recipes.

The recipes are organized into categories--fruit and veggie, meat, and seafood--and suggest different kinds of cheeses to accompany each, in addition to the traditional raclette. The book also include recipes for the grill, which I had never, confessedly, used at my friend's house. One of the grill recipes that I tried was grilling some polenta on the top grill while heating tomatoes, olives, sliced garlic, and fresh basil ribbons with cheese on top in the dish underneath and then putting the melted mixture on top of the grilled polenta -- extremely tasty and a fun alternative to the traditional raclette ingredients. In fact, it's the fun-alternative-to-the-traditional that is the book's strong point and makes it valuable. It also suggests beverages (alcoholic and non-) that complement the different recipes well, and has a few interesting recipes for side dishes and sauces.

This little book helped me throw one of my most successful and stress-free dinner parties. The suggested amounts were nearly perfect, I was prepared for the meal the NIGHT BEFORE (unheard of), the food was excellent (and cooked by the GUESTS!), and I could enjoy my guests without having to run in and out of the kitchen. Buy this book with any raclette grill and you'll have one of the best and simplest family meals or dinner parties around.

The only downside is that the book isn't longer.

I will agree with the other reviewers who state that the book leaves a bit to be desired in introducing one to the world of raclette; I must insist, however, that contrary to what one of our reviewers says, the word "raclette" here within the border Alpine states (Germany, Switzerland), can also refer to the cooking practice of using a 'raclette' grill to prepare a tableside meal with raclette cheese and various other ingredients, much in the way that the word "barbeque" can describe a way of cooking in the US, but can additionally be used to describe a particular ingredient or finished meal as well.

Please be aware that this book by Claudia Schmidt has been published with at least three different titles and covers. If you have a raclette book by this woman, it's probably this one. I would rate it "0" but 1 is the lowest allowed.

This was a gift, so I do not have any idea about the quality of the book, however the delivery was swift and rapid.

The recipes seemed unduly complex to me, and I'm not crazy about their cheese choices.

This book isn't worth getting....It doesn't even give recipes for
sauces,warm dips or recommendations for cheeses . waste of money

This book is the perfect and necessary compliment to the actual small appliance: the "Raclette", which we purchased for our college-age granddaughter for Christmas. She will be graduating as an RN in May of 2007 - loves to entertain and cook for friends in her itsy-bitsy off campus apartment. She is especially adventurous in trying out different cuisines and methods. This fit the bill to perfection! And, she was delighted. (PS: We're patiently waiting for our invitation to dinner.... she must be practicing.)

I do not own the book but I just looked at the first few pages. I was mostly interested in the list of cheeses the author recommended. To my surprise the original cheese is not listed: Raclette. "Raclette" is not a grill or even a technique to cook with cheese, IT IS A CHEESE.
I think the author missed something the last time she went to the Alps (IF she went...)