The French are a true cheese lover.
Some 26 kilos per year and per person.
And this figure is on the rise, in particular because of its heated consumption, that is to say fondue, if we judge the craze each winter for raclette, which has become a basis for all kinds of digressions.
It is readily eaten plain, smoked or with wild garlic ... Served just over a potato or very largely garnished with cold meats or even prepared with other mountain cheeses, even blue cheese, and why not Camembert.
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The hotel industry, a new synonym of cheese factory
At M Megève, like a sommelier, expert "cheese maker" Thomas Lecomte from the Les Grands Crus de Fondues restaurant will advise you on how to compose "your own fondue" by selecting the best cheese vintages in the region.
M Megève / Press photo
If this cheese dish is today a culinary weapon to face winter, it is also a little the tree that hides the forest of recipes based on processed cheese which occupies an increasingly present place in the gourmet imagination. . Also, with the start of the ski season, this year we are witnessing the multiplication of tables in 4 or 5 star hotels whose name is rather clear in the intentions: "Cheese and The Forest" at Kaya at Les Menuires, "Frometon" at Rocky Pop in Flaine, the "Laiterie" at Altapura in Val Thorens, "Les Grands Crus de Fondue" at M in Megève, "Le Coin Savoyard" at Barmes de l'ours in Val d'Isère , the “Atelier Savoyard” at the Alpaga in Megève or more simply “La Fondue” in Val Thorens.
In other words, processed cheese, with its invigorating character and its olfactory power, is no longer reserved for high-altitude tables or popular restaurants.
"
There is a real demand from customers who during their stay want to eat at least once a dish made with melted cheese and of which they also know that the central product will be sourced locally
" explains Antoine Gras, chef of the restaurants at Les Barmes de l'Ours, which gets its supplies exclusively from one of the two farms in Val d'Isère.
There is a real demand from customers who during their stay want to eat at least once a dish made with melted cheese.
Antoine Gras
Fondue: Savoyard or Swiss?
The three-star chef Emmanuel Renault has decided for his altitude restaurant “Le Chalet Forestier” to serve only a tartiflette and a crust as a cheese dish. Salt Flakes / Photo press
Moreover, surprisingly, raclette does not always find its place on the menu, perhaps less easy to manage on a table of 4 or 6 people than a
fondue
, easily consumed one-on-one.
And like raclette, the dish now also has variations: with mushrooms, tomatoes, green pepper… And above all, concerning the cheese base, produced according to two schools: “Savoyarde” made from local cheeses (Beaufort, Savoie County and Emmental), and “Switzerland” generally made up of equal parts of Vacherin Fribourgeois and Swiss Gruyère (half and half).
In both cases, we wet the cheese with a local dry wine and we gladly add a clove of garlic.
Beyond these two leaders of the genre, the
tartiflette
(reblochon, potato, bacon and onions, all baked in the oven) occupies a real place of challenger on the cards. It does not require any special equipment, can be prepared like any other dish in the kitchen and can even be the object of creativity. The three-star chef Emmanuel Renault, for example, has decided for his mountain restaurant "Le Chalet Forestier" to serve as a cheese dish only a tartiflette and a crust - a sort of variation on bread soaked in white wine. Chef Anthony Bisquerra at the “Atelier Savoyard” (Hotel Alpaga) offers a light version of the tartiflette, imagining it as a siphon-flavored potato gratin, served with a compote of bacon and onions and reblochon crisps. Chef Michaël Riss, at the “M” restaurant of the hotel Marielle,revisits it by placing the filling in the heart of a large potato - fried - which it then covers with an espuma. "
The whole point of this reworked dish was to give it a more gastronomic shape but that it can remain hot for the time of tasting on the terrace, and that the espuma does not fall immediately with the pressure of the altitude
”underlines the chef who has to deal with the vagaries of the 2300 meters above sea level in Val Thorens.
> expert opinion marielle, val tho
Savoyard pancake, reblochonade and other crozets
The very gourmet reblochon fondue from René and Maxime Meilleur in Saint-Martin-de-Belleville.
Simple & Better / Photo press
We could also cite as a very comforting dish the roasted Mont d'or, the Savoyard galette au Beaufort, the reblochonade, the crozets - Savoyard pasta in the shape of small squares - gratinated with reblochon, the Savoyard clafoutis à la tome des Bauges or more rare the Berthoud made with abundance. The principle of the recipe lies between the fondue and the raclette since the cheese is placed in a small dish to be placed in the oven, previously rubbed with garlic, all sprinkled with… Madeira.
Finally, René and Maxime Meilleur, the two three-star chefs from La Bouitte in Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, offer their “Simple et Meilleur” bistro a dish that is both unique and reminiscent of others.
This is a fondue made from reblochon, which is baked in a large ball of stale bread and in which the guests are invited to prick potatoes coated with bacon.
It's hard to do more synthetic than this dish where all the influences of recipes based on processed cheese intersect!
See also
Hotel La Bouitte in Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, the expert opinion of
Figaro
Six addresses to taste fine cheese specialties in the Alps
The Savoy refining cellars, an artisan refiner located in Rognaix.
Savoy ripening cellars / Press photo
M, HOTEL LE MARIELLE, VAL THORENS
The martiflette is the only cheese-based dish from Savoie farms on Michaël Riss's menu, but it has already become a signature.
It is served with winter shoots (25 €).
Hotel Marielle Val Thorens, 327 Rue du Soleil, 73440 Val Thorens.
Phone.
: 07 66 35 09 84.
THE FOREST CHALET, MEGÈVE
In the Rochebrune ski area, between two descents, go and taste the cheese crust or the tartiflette by Emmanuel Renaut.
Like the three-star chef, this altitude restaurant reflects the soul and friendliness of the Savoyards.
Flocons de Sel, 1775, route du Leutaz, 74120 Megève.
Phone.
: 04 50 96 13 94.
Read also Megève on a festive air
RESTAURANT LES CORNETTES, LA CHAPELLE D'ABONDANCE
The Trincaz family has been welcoming you since 1894 in a quality Savoyard house, located in the historic district of La Chapelle d'Abondance.
Coming from this long line of restaurateurs, chef Jérémy Trincaz perpetuates the local tradition of Berthoud, a specialty made from abundant cheese (obviously), garlic and white wine au gratin in the oven (24 €).
Les Cornettes Resort & Spa, 43 route des Frasses, 74360 La Chapelle-d'Abondance.
Phone.
: 04 50 73 50 24.
THE SAVOYARD WORKSHOP, MEGÈVE
Authentic flavors honoring the region.
Specialties from Savoy, where chef Anthony Bisquerra, two Michelin stars, shakes up the codes of the invigorating dish with a very airy tartiflette.
Menu at € 75.
Hotel & Chalets L'Alpaga, 66 All.
des Marmousets, 74120 Megève.
Phone.
: 04 50 91 48 70.
SIMPLE & BEST, SAINT-MARTIN-DE-BELLEVILLE
Not far from La Bouitte - three Michelin stars - René and Maxime Meilleur (father and son) have imagined a second address with a more relaxed gastronomic approach, rightly called "Simple et Meilleur".
We go there to taste a fondue (31 €) that looks like a tartiflette that looks like a Berthoud ...
Bistrot Simple & Meilleur, Place Notre Dame, Quartier de Caseblanche, 73440 Saint-Martin-de-Belleville.
Phone.
: 04 86 80 02 91.
Read alsoSaint-Martin-de-Belleville: Christmas in the village
THE SAVOIE, ROGNAIX CELLARS OF REFINING
On the road to the major Savoy resorts, this refiner's shop offers over thirty local cheeses.
A gourmet stopover is essential (open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.)!
The Caves d'Affinage de Savoie, 47 impasse de La Poudrière, 73730 Rognaix.
Phone.
: 04 79 31 82 28.
A BOOK
Haute Fondue, The art of fondue in 52 delicious recipes
Surprise your guests with a creative and delicious fondue!
By Jennifer & Arnaud Favre, photography Dorian Rollin.
Editions Helvetiq, 174 pages, € 24.90.
See also
From Vercors to Chamonix, our favorite restaurants in the Alps
