OAK CREEK — Imagine a slice of cheese bubbling on a small griddle heated by a series of votive candles in the center of a table.
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Orphee Paillotin prepares to use a brine to wash 12-pound wheels of raclette cheese in the aging cave of Alpinage Artisan Cheese in Oak Creek. The cheese ages for at least 60 days and is a staple in France, where it is commonly melted onto potatoes and cured meats.
Melted raclette cheese is layered onto bread and cured meats, and for the first time will have its own category at next month's World Championship Cheese Contest in Madison.
A thin slice of raclette cheese is melted with heat from four candles at Alpinage Artisan Cheese in Oak Creek. The melters are designed for tabletops.
Unlike raclette made in Europe, which is strictly for melting, an Americanized version from Alpinage Artisan Cheese in Oak Creek is designed to also be eaten as a table cheese.
Orphee Paillotin tends to wheels of raclette cheese in the small aging cave that can hold 400 wheels of cheese at Alpinage Artisan Cheese in Oak Creek. The company will later this year move into a larger facility in Sturtevant that will be able to age up to 1,200 wheels at a time.
Orphee Paillotin carries the wheel of raclette cheese he plans to enter in next month's World Championship Cheese Contest. It will compete against 49 other raclettes from the United States and six other countries.
Paula Heimerl uses a wire cutter to slice a thin piece of their Mount Raclette. The cheese is made at a creamery in Kewaunee County but aged at the Alpinage Artisan Cheese facility in Oak Creek. At left is Orphee Paillotin.
Photos: World Championship Cheese Contest at Monona Terrace
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Larry Bell, with LBell Consulting from Green Bay, judges mozzarella during the World Championship Cheese Contest at Monona Terrace in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, March 1, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Greg Kinate, with Winona Foods from Little Suamico, left, and Luis Jiménez-Maroto, with Center for Dairy Research from Mexico, judge cheese curds during the World Championship Cheese Contest at Monona Terrace in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, March 1, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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(From left) Franco Sessa, with Whitestone Cheese from Auckland, New Zealand, and Terry Lensmire, with Lensmire Dairy Consulting from Manitowoc, judge string cheese during the World Championship Cheese Contest at Monona Terrace in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, March 1, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
World Championship Cheese Contest
A sample of rindless Swiss is taken for judging during the World Championship Cheese Contest at Monona Terrace.
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Thierry Martin, of Canada, and Alieen Kacvinsky, of Madison, at right, judge swiss cheese during the World Championship Cheese Contest at Monona Terrace in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, March 1, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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John Jaeggi, of Brooklyn, Wisconsin, left, and Roland Sahli, of Switzerland, judge rindless swiss during the World Championship Cheese Contest at Monona Terrace in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, March 1, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Judging is underway during the World Championship Cheese Contest at Monona Terrace in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, March 1, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Judging is underway during the World Championship Cheese Contest at Monona Terrace in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, March 1, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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David Wentz, with Sargento Food Inc. from Plymouth, left, and Don Tribby, with International Flavors and Fragrances from Springfield, Missouri, judge medium cheddar during the World Championship Cheese Contest at Monona Terrace in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, March 1, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Barry Adams covers regional news for the Wisconsin State Journal. Send him ideas for On Wisconsin at 608-252-6148 or by email at badams@madison.com.
