Olive Oil for Fondue and Raclette: Does It Work?

Fondue and raclette are culinarily anchored in cheese and white wine, but olive oil actually has a legitimate, often overlooked place at both tables.

With fondue

A robust extra virgin olive oil works well for dipping bread alongside a cheese fondue — especially with very rich cheese blends, a peppery oil brings a fresh counterpoint. As a direct fondue ingredient it works less well: olive oil doesn't emulsify with melted cheese as cleanly as wine, cheese and a little starch do.

With raclette

Here the combination is noticeably better: a drizzle of good olive oil over baked potatoes, vegetables, or directly over melted raclette cheese is already established in Mediterranean-influenced Swiss kitchens — and works just as well flavor-wise as the classic butter version, just with a different, brighter note.

What happens to smoke point at the raclette grill

A raclette grill's cooking plate reaches noticeably higher temperatures than a regular pot — relevant if olive oil is used directly for searing on the plate rather than just as a finishing touch on the plated dish. See Cooking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil — and the Smoke-Point Myth for why a fresh, low-acidity oil tolerates more heat than the myth suggests.

A regional variant that already exists

In parts of southern Switzerland, such as Ticino and the Bregaglia valley, Mediterranean and alpine culinary traditions have mixed for a long time — olive oil alongside butter and cheese is less of a break with tradition there than elsewhere in German-speaking Switzerland. See Olive Oil in Swiss Cooking for further uses beyond salad dressing.