Is it too soon for a raclette in France?

Fluctuating temperatures and the onset of autumn is leading to one of France’s eternal debates – is it too soon for a raclette? 

The Swiss dish of melted cheese, potatoes, and charcuterie (sometimes vegetables) is one of the most popular across the border in France, and is a hearty meal often consumed with plenty of wine on cold nights. 

However, the national love for raclette is so strong that some people cannot help but dust off the machine as early as September. 

Raclette cheese is best at the end of the year

Perhaps surprisingly for a country with France’s gastronomic passion, there are no ‘official’ dates for when raclette season begins (though this may be as the dish is Swiss in origin). 

However, social media is beginning to be flooded with posts from users announcing they are about to eat – or have just eaten – their first raclette of the 2024/2025 year. 

Raclette cheese – which either comes in a large wheel or is pre-cut into small squares for use in a raclette machine at home – is usually available throughout the year in supermarkets, but begins to be stocked more heavily in shelves from September/October onwards.

Cheese packaged and placed on shelves in September can however be slightly too young – or old – lacking the classic taste you expect from melted raclette.

“Raclette cheese is best enjoyed from October to December, after maturing for 4 to 5 months, but it is also excellent from August to April,” says artisan cheesemonger Maison Androuet.

Various Parisian cheesemongers began stocking raclette the last weekend of September.

Read more: Know your cheeses and their seasons: which to eat in France in October

Alongside the quality of the cheese, the fluctuation of temperatures, both in the unstable autumn and more generally between the north and south, makes pinning an exact date for a raclette ‘season’ to begin difficult. 

For example, whilst temperatures may struggle to reach into double digits in parts of the north this weekend, along the Mediterranean it will be over 20C, and locally in the Pyrénées around 27C. 

Read more: Saturday sun and Sunday showers: French weekend weather outlook October 5 - 6

Keeping health in mind

Whenever you opt to begin your own raclette season, the general consensus in terms of health is to eat it in moderation. 

“We eat more [heavier, fattier foods] in winter because we crave hearty, warm, comforting dishes. But we store them in the same way,” in our bodies, said Marie-Laure André, dietician and nutritionist to 20Minutes.

You can change the food in your raclette, opting for less fatty cuts of meat such as jambon blanc, or replacing some altogether with vegetables, to cut out some of the fattier content.

“You can try to limit the quantity by cutting the cheese slices in half, so that you have the impression of eating as much as usual,” said Mrs André, although some others recommend switching raclette for a healthier and lighter cheese such as cancoillotte. 

“When you've eaten raclette the evening before, the next day you eat simpler, less fatty, less salty meals. You hydrate and exercise a bit more,” she added. 

Read more: French engineers build website to calculate ideal raclette quantities