Level A2 (Upper Beginner)
Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson for students who want to learn French online, with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a voice artist from France.
The French Word of the Day is raclette (f.), a dish from the Alps region that consists of melting cheese over potatoes, charcuterie, and pickles. When I visited my host family in Douai, France in 2022 — the same family I lived with as a high-school exchange student — they asked me what I wanted to eat, and my immediate reply was “la raclette!” I’ve included a picture from that very meal below!
✅ Meaning
✅ Pronunciation
✅ Example sentences
✅ Related Words & Expressions
✅ Related lessons
Subscribe to the French Word of the Day
📘 Raclette meaning
La raclette is a classic winter dish in France and Switzerland, built around raclette cheese (le fromage à raclette) that is melted and scraped over hot potatoes (les pommes de terre), cold cuts (la charcuterie), and sometimes pickles (les cornichons). The word raclette comes from the French verb racler (to scrape), referring to the tradition of scraping melted cheese directly onto the plate. Today, many families use a raclette machine (un appareil à raclette), which warms the cheese in small pans right at the table.
🧀 🇨🇭 Cultural note
Raclette is a cozy, family-style meal that the French associate with cold weather, skiing trips, and long winter evenings spent around the table. Raclette also has a strong cultural identity in the French and Swiss Alps, where preparing the raclette machine, arranging the ingredients, and scraping the melting cheese together is seen as a warm, communal ritual that brings people closer during the winter months.
🎧 Raclette pronunciation
The pronunciation of raclette is /ʁak.lɛt/, which sounds like rah-KLET.
📝 Raclette examples & usages
La raclette est un plat d’hiver avec du fromage fondu, des pommes de terre et de la charcuterie.
Raclette is a winter dish with melted cheese, potatoes, and cured meats.
Nous mangeons de la raclette en famille quand il fait froid.
We eat raclette as a family when it’s cold.
Elle adore le fromage à raclette parce qu’il fond très bien.
She loves raclette cheese because it melts very well.
Maman fait fondre le fromage avec un appareil à raclette sur la table.
Mom melts the cheese with a raclette machine on the table.
Curious about French cheese? This lesson has audio for the names of 10 cheeses you may be mispronouncing.
👉 See: Pronunciation of French cheese names »
❓ Want to feel more confident in French?
🎯 À Moi Paris — This is my top recommendation for online French courses, and it pairs wonderfully with my daily lessons. Camille Chevalier teaches with engaging audio stories that she records at three speeds. Her specialty is helping students with pronunciation and bridging the gap between textbook French and real spoken French as you hear it on the streets of Paris.
👉 Explore À Moi Paris »
👉 Read my review »
🎧 French Verb Drills — Having trouble with French verb conjugations? Camille’s audio drills break everything down step by step so you can finally lock in the patterns and speak with confidence.
If you purchase the courses, I may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you.
🔗 Related words and expressions
- la raclette — the dish of melted cheese served with potatoes and charcuterie
- le fromage à raclette — raclette cheese
- l’appareil à raclette (m.) — raclette machine used to melt the cheese
- une tranche de fromage — a slice of cheese
- les pommes de terre (f.) — potatoes
- la charcuterie — cured meats; cold cuts
- la fondue — fondue (another melted-cheese dish, but different from raclette)
- faire fondre le fromage — to melt cheese
- un repas d’hiver — a winter meal
- un plateau de raclette — a raclette platter (cheese, meats, potatoes prepared for serving)
📚 Related lessons on FrenchLearner!
👉 French food vocabulary
👉 À table — Come and get it! Dinner time!
🚀 Continue learning French online on FrenchLearner!
👉 French Word of the Day »
👉 French Vocabulary lists »
👉 French for beginners guide »
👉 French song lyrics hub »
👉 French conjugations hub »
