Every holiday season for the past 28 years, downtown Chicago’s Daley Plaza transforms into a traditional German Christmas market – filled with handmade ornaments, figurines, crafts, and candles – attracting more than a million people to the Loop.
But this year, there’s something in the air, prompting visitors to “say cheese.”
A pungent odor wafts through the market attracting long lines of curious customers to the Baked Cheese Haus.
“Some people really like the smell,” said Diego Vega, one of the sandwich makers at the Baked Cheese Haus. “Some people really hate it.”
Hundreds will line up at lunchtime and wait up to an hour for a chance to taste the famous Alpine raclette sandwich.
Raclette is a type of smooth, creamy cheese made from the milk of alpine cows. The word raclette comes from the French verb racler, which means “to scrape.”
Vega was working over a medieval metal contraption that melts a wheel of cheese as a baguette toasts on top.
“We melt the top layer of the cheese,” Vega said. “Get it nice and crispy. Then we scrape it on a baguette.”
Customers raved over the cheese.
“They are just ooey, gooey deliciousness,” said Ellie Homan, a customer. “I adore them.”
The Baked Cheese Haus will sell more than 1,000 sandwiches in a day. Krishnan said he’s a repeat customer.
“Third time in a week,” he said. “I’ve tried the traditional, the vegetarian one, and I’m trying the beef one today, and they’re both equally good, and I can’t decide which one’s better.”
There’s a ham, salami, and veggie version, but the most popular this season is the Alpine bratwurst. The traditional vegetarian raclette costs $11, the meat raclette costs $12, and the Alpine brat is $14.
