Tonight I had the most delicious meal ever. So good. Seriously, I don't even want to describe it here because you'll just think it doesn't even sound that exciting, but really, it is. Changed my life, man.
It is called raclette, after the french racler, which means "to scrape." Basically, you have this huge grill/heating apparatus in the center of the table. On the top level you put boiled potatoes, and on the bottom are these little indentations for the raclette pans, which are perfectly individually sized to fit a slice of raclette.
The raclette itself is a kind of cheese, and you put a slice in the pan, stick it on the grill, and let it melt. While it's melting, you fork a potato on your plate and mash it up a bit (Catherine peeled hers but Mom always told me that's the healthiest part, and I figured in a meal consisting basically of melted cheese I should jump at the tiniest opportunity to make it healthy), then you take a stubby wooden stick and scrape the (melty and delicious) cheese over your potatoes. This is then topped with serrano ham, thinly sliced salami, and a variety of other unidentifiable but quite tasty cured meats.
So. Good.
(Also, I've lost seven pounds since I've been here. I'm patenting this diet, it's called "Move to France And Eat Delicious Food All The Time Like Salted Caramels and Crème Brûlée And Lots of Cheese." This is way better than the time I tried to eat grape nuts for breakfast every day. Seriously. Know how many times I've eaten grape nuts since I've been here? ZERO. That's how many.)
