Raclette is a national dish that shares its name with a slightly nutty Swiss cheese made from cow's milk, an appliance for preparing the dish, and a full dining experience. Extremely popular in the ski region Valais and other parts of the Swiss Alps, where it also originated, raclette was invented by the Swiss mountain shepherds who used to gather around a fire while roasting potatoes.

As they left some cheese near the fire, it started to melt so they scraped bits of it on the potatoes and raclette was born. The dish takes its name from the French word racler, meaning to scrape. As few people have a fireplace these days, modern appliances such as raclette melter and raclette grill are used instead.

The scraped cheese is usually accompanied by roasted or cooked potatoes with their skin still on, vegetables, cold cuts, pickles, onions, and bread. There is also a variety of raclette where the mixture of cheese and other ingredients is scraped onto an opened baked potato.

A perfect dish to share with others during cold, winter nights, raclette is best paired with light white wines or traditional kirsch liqueurs.