Trips to Annecy & Tartiflette

As the holiday season quickly approaches, we are gearing up to share some of our favorite cold weather and holiday French dishes with y’all! First up, my (Hayley’s) favorite: Tartiflette. In spring 2018, I spent five days driving solo from Provence through the French Alps up to the Burgundy region, ending in Paris. I had spent about five days in Provence with friends, and had another five days to spare before meeting another friend in Paris for the weekend. I knew one of my stops along my drive had to be Annecy, a small, medieval town in the Haute Savoie region of France, in the French Alps.

Annecy is known for its colorful, ancient buildings and Lake Annecy, Europe’s cleanest lake. The town is quiet but vibrant, with a flower-box-lined canal running through the center, leading out into the crystal clear blue water of Lake Annecy. In the summer tourists and locals flock to swim, rent paddle boats and feed the geese. One of my days there I decided to drive up the closest mountain, halfway around the lake to see the alp-style chalets, cows and rolling green hills of the French Alps, as well as a vista point overlooking the lake itself. I hopped in my tiny, manual rental car and made the harrowing switchback drive up the mountain on roads that might as well have been one way (I narrowly scraped pass a truck or two!).

At the top I parked my car and immediately regretted not bringing a sweater. The cool mountain breeze fell over my skin but it didn’t matter. I was in Alps paradise: cow bells ringing happily in the distance, mountainsides of yellow wildflowers, hang gliders floating lazily above me in the sky— it was like a dream. After wandering for a while I made my way to the only restaurant at the top of the mountain. A small chalet known as the hang gliders’ hang out, I took a seat right at the edge of the patio overlooking the entire lake. Groups around me ordered huge meals of Raclette with potatoes and pickles and ham, others giant pots of fondue. Because it was just me, I wasn’t eligible to order any of those family-style dishes (I had been told that by every waiter at every restaurant so far… I don’t think they knew how much I was prepared to eat!). The waiter recommended a similar dish instead called Tartiflette.

I had no idea what I had ordered but I was too preoccupied at the time with the view. That changed however when my waiter brought out a steaming golden casserole dish, with a basket of fresh baguette and a leafy green salad. As I dug in, I found the meal of my dreams. Layers of potatoes, creamy, slightly meaty cheese, slivers of lardons and caramelized onions. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much, or been happier.

Now that the meal is just a distant memory, I think about it often. When I came across Alemar Cheese’s Good Thunder, a Reblochon-style washed-rind cheese we sell at the cheese shop where I monger, I knew I wanted to try to recreate the dish that changed my world that day in Annecy. This is my rendition, and I feel as though it came pretty close to the real thing. I think I’ll just need to take another trip back there to make sure.

Tartiflette

Adapted recipe from the late Anthony Bourdain

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 lb pork belly or slab bacon, cut in small dice

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

3/4 cup dry white wine (we used a Valencay white)

1 lb Reblochon or similar (we used two bricks of Good Thunder), sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh thyme, rough chopped for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot, boil the diced potatoes in salted water until just tender (slightly undercooked). Remove from the heat, drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan, cook the pork belly or bacon over medium-high heat until browned. Remove the pork belly from the pan and add in the sliced onion to the rendered fat. Cook until translucent and soft. Add back in the pork belly and cook five minutes more. Add the wine and cook five minutes more, deglazing the pan and stirring occasionally. Add the potatoes, salt and pepper to taste and stir gently.

Remove the potato mixture from the heat. Spoon half the mixture into the bottom of a baking dish. Spread half of the cheese slices on top in a single layer. Layer the remaining potato mixture on top of the cheese, then spread the second half of the cheese slices in a single layer over the top.

Bake for 20 minutes, then turn on the broil and broil for five minutes to create a golden brown crust. Top with another dash of pepper and the thyme. Serve immediately with crusty french baguette and a light salad.