Gourmet journey in Savoyard country - Cheese edition

Presentation

Haute-Savoie, a typical region where mountains, pine forests, rivers and clearings meet, is also known and recognised for its rich and tasty gastronomy. Gourmet charcuterie, fondues or tartiflette, the Savoyard territory is full of gastronomic specialities.
After a day of skiing or snowshoeing, everyone hopes to enjoy a good Savoyard meal by the fire. Get your taste buds ready, the culinary journey to the heart of Savoyard country is about to begin.
  •  - © office de tourisme de manigod
Savoyard cheeses

Cheese lovers, you have arrived in paradise: Reblochon, Tomme de Savoie, Raclette, Chevrotin, Manigodine, welcome to the land of cheese! Melting, firm or smooth textures, fruity or flowery flavours, smells of grass, hay or undergrowth, we take you on a little tour of Savoyard cheeses.
  • Manigodine : Emblematic cheese of Manigod, the Manigodine is a cow's cheese made from raw milk. Its paste is pressed, uncooked and has the particularity of being encircled by a spruce strap. This particularity gives the cheese its woody taste.  
  • Reblochon: A local cheese made from raw milk, Reblochon can be eaten as a tartiflette, on a cheese platter or in a soufflé! Discover Éric Guelpa's recipe for Reblochon soufflé here
  • Tomme de Savoie: The oldest of the Savoy cheeses, tomme is a pressed cheese made from raw cow's milk. Rustic and warm, this cheese delivers sweet and fruity aromas. 
  • Raclette: Made from raw cow's milk, this cheese is mainly used for the preparation of raclette.
  • Beaufort: Raw milk cheese from the high mountains of Savoie, the essential ingredient for a good Savoyard fondue. 
  • Chevrotin: A cheese made exclusively from goat's milk, it is made by hand (uncooked pressed cheese with a washed rind).
To whet your appetite... 

Savoyard gastronomy is mainly based on rich local products adapted to the rigours of the mountain climate. Would you like to discover and try the traditional and convivial dishes for a gourmet moment? Put on your chef's hat, roll up your sleeves and let's go.
  1. Raclette: The queen of Savoyard specialities
Raclette, common to Savoie and Franche-Comté, refers to both the speciality and the cheese ("à raclette") that is dedicated to it. A convivial meal par excellence, the "roasted cheese" is said to have been invented in the Middle Ages by Valaisan (Swiss) shepherds taking their herds of cows out to pasture. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that the word "raclette" appeared, in reference to the action of scraping the melted surface of the cheese to place it on the potatoes on the plate.
To choose your cheese, go to the farms, the cheese makers, the farm cooperatives or the ripening cellars of Manigod, you will be advised as you should be! 
Potato casserole, plates of cold meats, Savoyard cheeses are the essentials for a successful raclette. All that remains is to place the raclette machine in the centre and the feast can begin. 

Good to know: The Savoy raclette is a raw cow's milk cheese, with an uncooked pressed paste, is round in shape, covered with a smooth orange-coloured rind. It is matured for at least 12 weeks and longer.
Allow about 200 grams of cheese per person. 

Would you like to know everything about the raclette recipe? Click here.
To discover the recipe of the raclette pie with wild garlic from the chef Thierry Sauvanet, it is here
 
​2. Tartiflette: The star of winter
 
The tartiflette...with its greedy potatoes, its smoked bacon and its melting reblochon...how can you resist? Inspired by the Aravis recipe for péla made with potatoes, onions and reblochon cheese, tartiflette is a fairly recent dish (1980s) that has quickly become one of the emblems of French cuisine. 
The main differences between these two dishes are the difference in cooking method and the addition of wine for tartiflette, but in both cases for a successful dish, it is the quality of the Reblochon that is essential. Whether it is farmhouse (green label) or dairy (red label), Reblochon can make the difference!
Subsequently, many variants have emerged, among them: the croziflette. It could be considered as the cousin of the tartiflette. In fact, all you have to do is replace the potatoes with crozets and you have croziflette. 
Crozets are Savoyard pasta made from buckwheat, cut into small squares. The main ingredients are not forgotten: reblochon, onions, crème fraiche and lardons are also included. 

Would you like to make a real Savoyard tartiflette? Click here.
 
3. Fondue: to make you melt with pleasure
 
In 1794, Brillat-Savarin, a French gastronome, wrote the first recipe based on Gruyère cheese, eggs and butter. Wine was not added to the recipe until 1911. The so-called "Savoyard" Fondue is made with three cheeses (Compté, Emmental, Beaufort), not all Savoyard, but so good! The principle of the fondue is simple and known by all: stick a piece of bread at the end of your fondue fork, dip it in the cheese. Don't forget to give a token to the one who drops his piece of bread in the fondue.
A regional dish of Savoyard gastronomy, fondue is not lacking in flavour: a combination of several cheeses (comté, beaufort, emmental), white wine, garlic, nutmeg, kirsch and cornstarch, a real culinary delight. Although the Savoyards may not like it, fondue is a dish that we owe to our Swiss friends, and more precisely to the canton of Fribourg. 
In the past, it was traditionally eaten in autumn and winter, when the herds came down from the mountain pastures and the shepherds and owners met.
 
Would you like to make a Savoyard fondue? Click here
Where to find these cheeses in Manigod? 
Manigod has no less than 19 farms! You will be sure to find what you are looking for either directly from the farm or in our maturing cellars.
Here is an exhaustive list of some farms:
 
La Ferme de l’Étale
2412 rte du Col de Merdassier
74230 Manigod
Tél. : +33 (0)4 50 02 64 63 

La Ferme du Crêt 
1408 Route du Col de la Croix Fry, 74230 Manigod
Tél. : +33 (0)4 50 66 00 49

Caves d’affinage Paccard
Les bréviaires 74230 Manigod
Tél. : +33 (0)4 50 44 07 50
www.reblochon-paccard.fr
  •  - © M. Sauvage

See you soon for the second edition of this gourmet trip to Savoyard country!