"He was nervous about whether the other people would like it, but everybody loved it. It was very cozy and everyone was sitting around the table talking, and it was so much fun. I was nervous that the kids would get burned, but nobody did."

Raclette originated with Alpine shepherds who would move their herds high into the mountains for grazing in the warm summer months, according to Swissmar, a company that makes the grills. Food supplies were limited to basics, like potatoes, pickles and a round of cheese.

Long, lonely evenings were passed in front of a campfire, where a wheel of cheese was cut in half and placed on a rock near the fire's edge. The cheese melted and bubbled, and just before it could drip into the fire, it was scraped onto a waiting plate of potatoes and pickles. The word "raclette" comes from the French word, "racler" meaning "to scrape off."

Deer Valley's Empire Lodge serves raclette fireside dinners on Thursday nights. The wheel of imported raclette cheese is cut in half and put on a device that swings over the fireplace. The cheese melts and drips onto a plate, and then it's served with cornichon (little Swiss pickles), pickled onions, steamed new potatoes, cured meats, strawberry chutney and fresh breads. It's $40 per person, and it's already sold out with about 50 parties on the waiting list, said Julie Wilson, Deer Valley's food and beverage director.

"We're going to have to add another night besides Thursday next year," she said.

Stein Eriksen Lodge offers raclette on its apres-ski menu in the Troll Hallen Lounge from 3-6 p.m. daily. The melted raclette cheese comes with potatoes, cornichons and salami for $13.

Traditional raclette cheeses are made from aged raw milk, said Juhl, because pasteurization loses some of the cheese's flavor. On the other side of the Alps, the French make a raclette cheese that's a little more robust that the Swiss version — "a little stinkier," says Juhl.

All that aging doesn't come cheap — the Swiss raclette cheese is $16.99 per pound; the French raclette cheese is $12.99 per pound at the Juhl Haus.

But any good-quality cheese that melts well will work, said Juhl.

So what do you cook on the top? Juhl likes thin slices of Black Forest ham, which is cured with juniper berries and pine needles, or other salty, flavorful hams, like prosciutto de Parma, because they heat quickly and add flavor. Chunks of bratwurst and cornichons are also traditional.

Small new potatoes, or chunks of larger ones, are another staple. They should be pre-cooked before going on the grill "otherwise your potatoes are forever and a day cooking," said Juhl. She also adds pickled pearl onions and fresh veggies, such as broccoli, green peppers, cucumbers, asparagus and mushrooms.