I first encountered this sandwich in the Bryant Park Holiday Market sold by Baked Cheese Haus and it was easily one of the best sandwiches I have ever put in my mouth. I set out to recreate it at home not with the intent of improving it (an impossible task), but with the goal of providing an alternative for anyone who doesn’t have quick access to it.

What is raclette?

Raclette is a Swiss dish consisting of heating cheese under an overhead heating element and scraping off the melted portion onto food, traditionally potatoes. To recreate it at home without special equipment, I initially tried to use the broiler in the oven to stay as true to the traditional method as possible. However, I quickly found out that the broiler is not so easy to use. The cheese sticks to whatever container you put it in, and it’s difficult to handle since the entire tray is heated under the broiler.

The easiest and most effective method I landed on is to simply melt the cheese on the stove in a nonstick pan. No cheese bits get stuck to the bottom, and the handle remains nice and cool, allowing you to tilt the cheese onto the food with ease.

The Dynamic Duo

There’s two things that make this sandwich magical. The first is a really good baguette. The ideal situation is grabbing a fresh baguette from a local bakery, but a regular grocery store baguette works decently with some good reheating techniques.

The second thing is, of course, the cheese. The right type of cheese for this sandwich is called raclette cheese. It’s a little bit tricky to find in American grocery stores, but I found the cheese I use at Trader Joe’s. There really isn’t any other cheese quite like raclette cheese. It melts more than mozzarella, and has a nutty taste similar to parmesan. I don’t recommend making substitutions, but if you can’t find it then your best bet is camembert or brie cheese.