© Shutterstock
A striking world record was broken in Saint-Etienne on Sunday. And the French needed no less than 620 kilograms of cheese and 340 kilograms of charcuterie for that.
2,236 people gathered in the exhibition hall in Saint-Étienne, near Lyon, on Sunday afternoon to attempt a special world record. The residents of the city wanted to organize the largest raclette in the world.
The idea was suggested in December by local comedian Laurent Regairaz, better known as Chicandier. “The previous record was held by students from Chambéry (with 1,067 attendees, ed.),” he tells Le Figaro. “Given the enormous success of ticket sales, which we weren’t necessarily anticipating, we realized we had to make some meticulous preparations.”
The tickets flew out the door. 1,700 tickets were sold in five days. And so the organization added another 300 extra places, which were sold out within a minute.
The main aim was to put Saint-Étienne on the map as a raclette city. “The Swiss, the Savoyards… Many are very surprised that the event is taking place in Saint-Étienne,” says Regairaz. “But that’s part of the game: we want to get the regions talking to each other and away from the academic side that demands that a certain dish or tradition is automatically associated with a region. Raclette is a dish that is eaten throughout France.”
On Sunday, 620 kilograms of cheese, 340 kilograms of cold cuts and a ton of potatoes were delivered. For the time being, we still have to wait for an official decision from Guinness World Records. But Regairaz already has a new attempt in mind. If all goes well, he wants to make the largest portion of sauerkraut in the world in Saint-Tropez. “The idea is to taste this traditional Alsatian dish with Provencal wines, with the same aim of bridging the regions,” he explains.
This contains inserted content from a social media network that wants to write or read cookies. You have not given permission for this.
Click here to adjust your preferences