My German Wife Struggles to Organize A Traditional Swiss Raclette Dinner in America

Back when we lived together in the States, my wife attempted to plan a “raclette” dinner party at our house. Raclette itself is a semi-hard cheese from Switzerland typically used for melting. (Let’s pause for a second here and appreciate the fact that ‘semi-hard’ is still funny to me because I have not matured one single day since I was 12 years old.)

The word raclette also applies to meals in which small pans, known as coupelles, are filled with meats and vegetables, covered with slices of Swiss cheese, and then placed beneath a table-top grill to melt. After the cheese has completely melted, dinner guests withdraw the coupelles and eat the contents. Then their heads explode because their brains cannot process such an overwhelming rush of deliciousness. Seriously, eating raclette is like having an orgasm in your entire head. (I call it a skullgasm.)

So, what I’m saying is, raclette dinners are awesome. Trying to organize a raclette dinner with all of your busy friends — most of whom have kids — is not. For my German wife, trying to get a bunch of Americans under one roof was like herding cats. Some of our guests had previous commitments to attend to. Some of them forgot what ‘R.S.V.P.’ meant (or actively disregarded it), and others were just too busy wiping baby bottoms to show up. But in the end, my wife managed to organize an awesome dinner, and when it was all over, she collapsed on the couch and sighed…

THE WIFE: “It is always so difficult bringing everybody under one hat!”*

*She later clarified: “That was a Denglish saying! In German we say: ‘Es ist schwierig, alles unter einen Hut zu bringen.’ “

Click here to learn more about the term “Denglish.”

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