Raclette - Cheesy Swiss Goodness

Herr J has been finding all kinds of goodies on Amazon.de lately, including some great surprises for me.

So I was very excited to open a box and find a two-person raclette grill.

Raclette probably originated in Switzerland, but is very popular in France and Southern Germany as well. The methods and ingredients vary, but it basically is melted cheese served with meat and/or vegetables. A little like cheese fondue, but instead of dipping things in cheese, you are covering them in cheese.

In Germany, many families traditionally eat raclette on Christmas Eve, though you'll find it eaten throughout the winter, and as part of the après ski in Switzerland.  It's an easy meal, but it brings everyone together around the table. Raclette typically is a long-meal, during which friends and family eat slowly, drink white wine, and talk for hours.

The main two methods are a Raclette Oven or a Raclette Grill:
The Raclette Oven consists of a stand to hold a half wheel of cheese under a heating element (the top bar). The heat melts the top layer of the cheese and guests scrape the melted cheese onto their plates.

These are pretty cool looking, but the disadvantages are that:
- they're pricey (usually starting at over €200) 
- you need to use half wheels of cheese, so it's best for larger groups
- no grill or griddle for grilling the meats or veggies

However, they make a very impressive presentation and perfectly melted cheese. 

The Raclette Grill comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes (and price ranges). The basic form consists of a two level appliance, with the heating element sitting under the grill/griddle and above the individual trays.

The one shown has both a stone and a grill, on which the meats are cooked. Each guest has a tray into which he or she puts a slice of cheese for melting. This makes wonderful bubbly cheese, but you have to be careful not to burn it, since the slices are thinner than the wheel. There's some debate about the correct way to make your raclette - some believe that only the cheese should be melted in the tray and then used to top the meat and veggies; others prefer to add vegetables into the cheese while it's melting (as shown here).

Cheese:
Cheese is the main ingredient in raclette, and you'll want to use one that melts evenly and smoothly. The raclette cheese from Wallis area (Valais canton) in Switzerland is the original raclette cheese, but there are a wide variety of Swiss, French, German, and Dutch raclette cheeses available - even some pepper flavored, smoked, or other varieties. The French cheese that the cheese lady recommended was excellent - in Europe you can usually just ask for a raclette cheese and they'll recommend one based on preference, and even slice it into perfect raclette slices!  Though you could use a good melting cheese such as Gouda, Emmental, Tilsit, Edam, or even Camembert if you live somewhere that raclette cheese isn't available, but it really is best to get raclette cheese. A good rule of thumb is to have 200-300g cheese per person, and it should be cut into half centimeter thick slices. Leave the rind on - it softens up and provides nice texture.

Potatoes:
After the cheese come the veggies and meat. Originally, the meal consisted of cheese, potatoes, and pickles. Today, tradition has expanded to include other items, especially meat.  In Switzerland, they often serve jacket potatoes, and in Germany sliced boiled potatoes. Obviously they need to be cooked beforehand, but you could also brown them up on the grill to get a little more texture.

Meat and Veggies:
Now that we have the cheese and potatoes comes the fun part. You can put anything on the grill - common ingredients are chicken, pork, kebabs, shrimp, sausages, steak, dried meats, peppers, onions, and so on.

Condiments:
Usually there are paprika and fresh ground pepper on the table for seasoning, as well as small or sliced pickles.

Our Raclette Dinner:
The one Herr J got me is a really good Swiss brand, with trays for 2 people. I don't actually have a formal dining table, so it's great to have a small one.

Here's our setup - cheese, shrimp, tomatoes, onions, and small pieces of marinated filet (we skipped the potatoes):
  

Here you'll see the cheese melting below and the shrimp grilling on top.

The process is simple...grill your meats and veggies and put them (or potatoes) on your plate. Then remove the cheese tray from the heat. Using your raclette spatula (plastic or wooden angled scrapers, as in the photo above), slide the molten cheese atop your meat and veggies. You'll end up with a tasty, gooey treat like this:    

In addition to the shrimp, we grilled onions and steak. As much as I'd love to post a picture of the finished product, it was just too delicious - we were too lost in eating it to stop and take a photo!

I'm really not sure why raclette isn't popular in the US.  With the potatoes, it's a lot like European cheese fries or potato skins! What's not to love?

We'll be experimenting in the future with ideas for modern raclette - onions, steak, and bell peppers would make a great cheesesteak; with some spicier peppers we could go the Mexican route; and with some meatballs, we could have Italian raclette. Though cheese is not normally part of Asian cuisines, my favorite Yakitori restaurant (Nanbantei in Far East Plaza in Singapore) has an out-of-this-world beef wrapped cheese skewer. Perhaps we can make some Yakitori-inspired dished with the beef, prosciutto-wrapped baby asparagus, and others. Yum, my mouth is watering just thinking about Nanbantei!

Gummi Smurfs

Strangely, these little guys come in a set of Smurfs and Cherry Cola. Cute and tasty!

(Your German word for the day is "Schlumpf," which is the German name for Smurfs)

Moving on to the Pilsners

So far we've tasted a ton of Helles, Weißbier, Oktoberfest Märzen, Dunkles, and Starkbier. And these do represent what is most often drunk in Southern Bavaria. But it isn't necessarily representative of all of Germany's tastes or of German beers known worldwide. For many Germans, a Pils is the standard beer. If you walk into a bar in Hamburg and ask for a Helles, they'd probably laugh at you.

A Pils is what many people know as beer and it's the closest relative to most mainstream American beers. Calm down, no need to panic, we're not claiming a Miller Light is anything like a Warsteiner...but these are the beers that have the hoppy "beer taste" that most Americans know and love as beer. They come from the Bohemian (mostly Czech) style of beer, which is the same one that influenced Budweiser, Miller, and the other popular beers in the US.

A Pils has a similar alcohol content and wort to Helles and both are pale lagers. The most noticeable difference is in taste - put simply, a pils will have a much stronger taste to its hops than a helles. It sometimes is slightly clearer, too. But the main difference will be the degree of hoppiness.

So, we decided to ease into the Pils round with a pair of Pils from Munich brewers and a pair that will be well-known to beer drinkers around the globe.

Match 1: Paulaner Premium Pils vs Löwenbräu Premium Pils

First off, these are not always easy beers to find in Munich. The just aren't in major demand, but the breweries acknowledge that some customers want more hops in their beer. They seem to be somewhat the red-headed stepchildren of the family, though...Paulaner lists its beers by categories: Weißbier, Helles beers, Seasonal beers, and "other". the "Other" includes only two - the Premium Pils, and the cola-orange drink mix Spezi. But both take brewing very seriously and brew a beer in the Bohemian style, according to Bavarian tradition.

The two beers appeared similarly in the glass, though had quite different tastes. The Löwenbräu was much hoppier, and tasted slightly bitter to us.

Obviously this one is a matter of taste...we've found through this that we prefer balanced beers, or ones leaning into the malty side of taste. So, a Pils would usually not be our first beer choice. However, if you are someone who wants a manly, hoppy beer, then you would vote differently. (And we can recommend some crazily hoppy beers if you need!)

The Paulaner surprised us - it was great. Very light and though it was definitely a Pils, it had a slightly sweet finish. This one clearly is a Pils for the Bavarian market! It's a beer that will go well with spicy foods - it's strong than a helles and will stand up to the spiciness, but it doesn't have such a strong or sweet taste (as would a dunkel or weißbier) that would compete against the taste of your food.

Match 2: Beck's vs Beck's Gold 

Beck's is one of Germany's top breweries, established in Bremen in the 1870's, and now is part of InBev. Beck's Pilsner is widely available, though Beck's Gold is not sold in the US.

We're not exactly sure how the two are positioned, or if Beck's Gold is supposed to be a better or more upscale beer. Neither had a very strong taste - not surprising, since they are similar and appeal to such a large number people. But we found the Beck's Gold to be less bitter and a better balance of hops and very slight sweetness. Both were very drinkable, but we preferred the Gold.

Paulaner Pils vs Beck's Gold:

On to the matchup between Paulaner and Beck's Gold... These were very similar in taste and level of hoppiness. It makes me think that maybe Beck's Gold is meant to be a slightly smoother or lighter version of their regular Pils. We ended up voting for the Paulaner. It was a really enjoyable Pils - hoppy, without being bitter, and it had a more complex mix of flavors.   

I'm not a big Pils drinker, but have surprised Herr J a few times when I chose this beer to drink with dinner. Thanks to this beer tournament and the winter weather, my balcony basically is a large beer fridge...  

Great Design Gifts

A few whimsical touches for the home, with clever design

The 8-armed Octopus Shower Caddy keeps all your shower needs out of the way, in a cute package.

 

via Gizmodiva, available here

The cast iron Wicked Witch of the West doorstop...too clever for words!

available from Neatoshop

For the modern furniture lover, these Oi seating cells - the pieces can be combined on a base to create endless combinations of unique seating. Also, environmentally friendly...they utilize recycled materials and a soy-based CFC-free recyclable foam, as well as ship with the pieces tightly packed into a cube to reduce packing materials.

     via ApartmentTherapy, available from Oi

And the amazing Bird Nest Bed, into which I want to dive with a book!

via w ooh ome, designed by Merav Eitan and Gaston Zahr as part of the Green Garden Exhibition, shown in April 2008 at the opening of O*GE Gallery

For your kitchen are these fun geometric trivets...use them as potholders, alone, or link them together. They come in great colors and kinda remind me of Settler of Catan. Yes, I know, sometimes I'm little weird...I can't help it

via Design*Sponge and available from Velocity

The Andechs First Round

Though we looked forward to this as "The Andechs Round," it also included König Ludwig's Helles and Mönchshof's Feines Helles Lager.

We had to guess a bit on where to include the Mönchshof, as we expected it might be a darker beer than the other Helles. We had previously tried König Ludwig's Weissbier, for which it is well-known. The brewery, however, is best known as being the royal brewery. It remains in the hands of the Wittlesbacher family, which is currently headed by His Royal Highness Prince Luitpold of Bavaria (the great-grandson of Ludwig III, the last king of Bavaria). The House of Wittlesbach's coat of arms is the one you see on the bottle's label.

You'll find a wealth of information (in German) on their website, as the family has had over 70 breweries since founding their first in 1260. The royal family has been inextricably linked to beer and its place in Bavarian culture, with its institution of the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516 (Duke Wilhelm IV), Elector Maximilian's 200-year long Weißbier Monopoly (allowing only the royal family to produce weißbier in the 17th and 18th centuries), and King Ludwig I's contributions of establishing the great traditions of Oktoberfest and Beer Gardens. I can't imagine Munich in the summer without beer gardens!

Mönchshof was one we see occasionally in the stores, at least this Lager, their Weinachtsbier (Christmas Beer), and their Schwarzbier that we tasted earlier. Mönchshof began as a Klosterbrauerei (a monastery brewery, though primarily for their own use) in 1349, becoming a brewing company in 1885 (brewing primarily for export). It's now part of the Kulmbacher brewing company, with this brand positioned as "Kulmbacher's Sympathetic Beer".  

Mönchshof is from Kulmbach, in Oberfranken - the area which describes itself as "this is pure Bavaria." Think Hof, Bayreuth, Coburg, Bamberg...It's an area with a long brewing tradition but with smaller, more local breweries. And Pils is more popular in this area than it is here in Southern Bavaria. Hopefully we'll get a chance soon to travel there and sample some of the excellent local beers!

Back to the tournament...This one was what we'd call a triple overtime game. The beers were very similar - quite light and with very little hops. Mönchshof got the win, however, as it just had a slightly better feel in the mouth. I know, if we're basing it on carbonation levels, it's REALLY a close call!

Next up we have the Andechs round, with Andechs Vollbier Hell vs Andechs Bergbock Hell. Again, we weren't sure where to put the Bergbock Hell, but decided to place it with the Helles, even though it was a bock-style beer.

But first, about Andechs. For those of you not living in Munich, Andechs is a small town outside of Munich, in the Five Lakes District ("Fünfseenland"), situated between Ammersee and Starnbergersee. It's also home to the Benedictine monastery and its brewery.  Andechs Monastery 

The Holy Mountain ("Heiligen Berg") became the site for pilgrimages back in the 10th century, after word spread that relics including a branch from Jesus' crown of thorns were displayed there. In 1445, the first monastery was established on the site and the brewing tradition began. 50 years after the monastery was dissolved, King Ludwig I established the monastery in 1850 for the Benedictine order's Abbey of St. Boniface (Munich).

Interestingly (and I'm not sure why), this order does not recieve funds from the church tax that the government collects (9% of your income, if you check the religion box on your tax forms).  So, the brewery, restaurant, and products are their largest source of revenue. Though it's known for its beer, Andechs produces many excellent products available in the area. It's schnapps are incredible (try the Honey, trust me!), and its dairy products fresh and of the highest quality. We'll devote a post soon to just an Andechs tasting (beer, cheese, etc)...It's deserving of its own tasting!

But back to the monastery - One of the best easy hikes in the area is to go up to Andechs for a meal. The Munich public transportation system will take you there (S5 to Herrsching) and then it's a little under an hour easy hike through the woods and up to the monastery. A beautiful walk in winter snow, or an excellent chance to enjoy the view from the beer garden's terrace overlooking the valley in the warmer weather.

We were excited to test the Helles against the Bergbock Hell and find out which we prefer. Since you're drinking beer in half liter and liter sizes at the monastery, it's hard to sample many varieties and still be able to walk down the mountain.

First up was the Vollbier Hell. An excellent helles, light and clear and crisp. It was a very good beer, though similar to the other very good helles beers we'd had before (Augustiner, Tegernseer, etc).

Then we poured the Bergbock Hell, to find it a much darker, golden (but still clear) beer. Very promising. Let's just say that Andechs describes the perfectly: as "Lust at first sip."

It had a lovely almost caramel taste, with sweet malty goodness. But it was not as strongly spiced as a dunkel beer - it was perfect balance of a lighter beer (like a helles) with all the great tastes of the darker, stronger beers. And it comes with the 7% alcohol content of the darker beers... We still have many beers to taste, but WOW, this one will be the one to beat!

I'm so happy with this discovery and will make sure to always keep some around. It is a truly outstanding beer!

Needless to say, the Andechs easily beat the Mönchshof Lager and is headed to the Sweet Sixteen to face off against the Hacker Pschorr Münchener Kellerbier.

Odd Jobs: Teddy Bear Tester

So many fascinating jobs out there...ones we dream of having, ones we hope to avoid. And others that suprise us by their existence.

Last year Der Spiegel interviewed German toymaker Steiff's director of quality control, a man identified as Mr. Krebs. I have to wonder if this is an alias, as his name means Mr. Cancer. A strangely appropriate name for a man whose job is to mutilate and destroy sweet, soft little teddy bears.

Der Spiegel writer Michaela Schiessel describes his job as:

In the land of stuffed animals, there is conflict twice a week. That's when the designers at famed German stuffed toy maker Steiff are required to present their latest creations to the director of quality control, a man named Mr. Krebs. He is completely immune to the heartbreakingly sweet faces of teddy bears, cuddly baby rabbits and cute longhaired guinea pigs. The furry toys' baby-like faces do not trigger any paternal feelings in Krebs.

 

Instead, his feelings toward the toys are driven by scientific curiosity. When Krebs sees a stuffed animal, his first thought is to burn it, drown it and wring its neck. He chars them, covers them with saliva and tears at their heads. He rubs acid into their fur, roasts them under UV light and tests the way they respond to all sorts of chemicals.

Only when a test bear has survived Krebs' onslaught is it permitted to become a Steiff animal. And when that happens, it gets the company's trademark button in its ear -- a medal for bravery, if you will -- at company headquarters in the town of Giengen in southwestern Germany.

In the land of stuffed animals, there is conflict twice a week. That's when the designers at famed German stuffed toy maker Steiff are required to present their latest creations to the director of quality control, a man named Mr. Krebs. He is completely immune to the heartbreakingly sweet faces of teddy bears, cuddly baby rabbits and cute longhaired guinea pigs. The furry toys' baby-like faces do not trigger any paternal feelings in Krebs.

 

Instead, his feelings toward the toys are driven by scientific curiosity. When Krebs sees a stuffed animal, his first thought is to burn it, drown it and wring its neck. He chars them, covers them with saliva and tears at their heads. He rubs acid into their fur, roasts them under UV light and tests the way they respond to all sorts of chemicals.

Amusing as the job may be, Steiff is a prime example of German focus on quality - and also the willingness to pay high prices for quality.  Selling poor quality goods (except where they're marketed as low cost alternatives) is a guaranteed strategy to lose your customers here. Though departments stores and supermarkets have found a place here, there still are numerous small specialty stores where you go to get advice from the experts. Just in a 2 block radius from my apartment, we have a couple of model train stores, a knife store, a store selling small personal appliances (razors, toothbrushes, etc), a wig store, and a sewing store. Additionally, when you visit a large sports store, the salespeople are experts in their areas - they actually know the products and can advise you on your purchase. If you can get someone's attention....

When looking at sofas in a large furniture store, we were initially frustrated that there was only one salesperson for a small group of sofas and that no other salesperson could help us. Knowing that most service personnel in Germany work on salary, rather than commission, we knew it was not a financial issue. We later learned that each section had a salesperson who was an expert on those products and could answer any questions - therefore, the others could not help outside their areas. Still a bit frustrating to get help, but the system does make sense.

Back to Steiff....We've already learned about the famous Reinheitsgebot, or Beer Purity Law, stating that beer can only contain water, barley, and hops. Steiff has its own Reinheitsgebot, as a 10 point Purity Law governing the production of their plush toys!

And the price/quality tradeoff? Well, these cute little guys are tested and have various quality certifications....and you're going to pay $50-150 or more for a teddy bear ($235 for the 12 inch Pug). They are super soft and the other animals are adorable, but it was a bit of a shock to me to see those prices on a stuffed animal! However, that's where we can see one big general difference between German and American cultures. Whether it's clothing, furniture, electronics, or teddy bears...Germans buy fewer items, but of higher quality. As Americans, we're used to low priced, almost disposable goods. We buy more impulsively, and we don't expect to keep things for years. Germans will plan purchases, investigate quality and options, and most often will save up for a purchase rather than buying it on credit. And they demand quality and longevity out of major purchases.  I'm still often shocke by the prices here, but I'm starting to understand the system.

The Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr Helles Faceoffs

One of our first rounds in the Helles Bracket pitted two Paulaner beers and two Hacker-Pschorr beers against each other.

On the food side of the equation, we stuck with tradition and ate Schnitzel and Roasted Chicken...there's no better meal to pair with the Helles style beers. Add a couple pretzels, and you're done! (And there's no cooking involved...all are available from your local Vincenzmur or grocery store).

Hacker-Pschorr describes its Münchener Hell as: 

belong[ing] to Bavaria like pretzels and white blue sky.

It's a classic, light and clear helles beer.

The Münchener Kellerbier is beer, as they made it in the 1400's. It's a darker golden beer, with some cloudiness and sediment. It also has more carbonation and has a slightly bubbly feel to it. It still has a light flavor, but slightly more flavor due to the different yeast style. The name "Kellerbier" refers to the fact that it's like the beer that was pulled straight out of the celler (where it lagered and fermented, with the air in the basement as the source of the yeast) and served to guests.

We preferred the Kellerbier and it's flavor and carbonation. Score one for "the old ways!"

Next up, we had the Paulaner beers...we had no idea how these two would differ.

Similar the Hacker-Pschorr beers, the Original Münchener Hell is their classic hells, while the Original Münchener Urtyp is closer to the old beers. The Hell was light, golden, and clear. The Urtyp here is classified as an Exportbier and thus was brewed with a higher wort to help it withstand transportation. These days transportation is no issue, but many still enjoy the slightly maltier flavor and darker color.

You'll see the word "Urtyp" often on beer labels. It just means "traditional style." This doesn't always tell you how the beer will taste, but gives you a clue that it's closer to the old style of brewing. Or you'll see combinations wtih just the prefix "Ur-" (e.g., "Urhell"), which means "traditional" or "ancient."

Surprisingly, we prefered Paulaner's Helles to the Exportbier. We typically go for the maltier and darker beers, but we just really enjoyed the crisp Helles.

But how would the Paulaner Orginal Münchener Hell compare to the Hacker-Pschorr Münchener Kellerbier? We actually chose the Kellerbier, though they were very close in taste.

It was still light (compared to many of the beers we have tasted), but with a bit more interesting flavor than the Helles. Also maltier.

This is the beer to drink when you don't like the taste of beer!