![cheese board accompanied by Haute Savoie wine with a view of a mountain village]( "cheese board accompanied by Haute Savoie wine with a view of a mountain village")
Enjoy the typical cheese and wines of Haute Savoie
Whether you’re dining in or dining out during your Chamonix stay, you cannot beat the regional Savoyard cuisine! Celebrating wholesome, hearty food like nowhere else, the picturesque Alpine terrain of the Haute-Savoie region is a paradise for lovers of cheese and cured meats. Due to the harsh winter conditions and verdant mountainous landscape, cooking ingredients are seasonal, authentic, and local.
The typical ingredients used in the traditional Savoie food are: Reblochon cheese which is used in several recipes such as the Tartiflette and the Croziflette; Tome cheese, usually eaten at the end of the meal; Beaufort cheese, a Gruyère-style cheese usually used to make fondue; Saucissons Savoyards, delicious cured meats which you can find in several flavors; Diots, local pork sausages that can be cooked in several ways and Crozets de Savoie, small square-shaped pasta made using buckwheat or wheat. The best traditional Savoyard dishes combine this ethos, with tantalising results.
Perfect for chillier days and evenings; these carb-fuelled feasts are ideally enjoyed as a pit stop, either on or off the ski slopes, as well as after a long, scenic hike. Nourishing to the core, these regional meals promise to re-energise, and satisfy! Not a skier? Find your alternative winter activity here!
Typical foods of the Savoie region that you must try:
Savoyard Fondue
The perfect social food for friends and family, the Savoyard Fondue is a classic wintertime treat. The story goes that in leaner times, mountain peasant communities would gather to survive, sharing their cheese and stale bread. Born from necessity, fondue offered the perfect way to provide a warm, tasty meal. Today, Savoyard Fondue is as much at home on your dining table as on the menu of a classic Chamonix restaurant – so dip in and enjoy!
![French speciality, cheese fondue with fondue set, stale bread and a selection of cheeses]( "French speciality, cheese fondue with fondue set")
The delicious Savoyard fondue, try it with stale bread and cured meats
Ingredients:
1 glass Savoie white wine (per person)
100 grams Comté, Reblochon, or Abondance (per person)
100 grams Beaufort cheese (per person)
1 peeled clove garlic
1 tsp potato flour
1 glass Kirsch liqueur
Pepper and nutmeg to season
Bread (portion size to suit)
+ Caquelon (special Fondue saucepan), knife & wooden spoon
Recipe:
Firstly, cut the cheese into strips. Next, mix the potato flour into the Kirsch liqueur. Rub the garlic clove inside the Caquelon. Next, heat up the white wine. As it starts to bubble, add the cheese, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon.
Season with pepper and nutmeg. Once the cheese is melted, add the potato and Kirsch mixture, stirring all the time. In a flash, your Fondue will be ready. Tradition dictates the first person to lose their bread in the Fondue owes the table a bottle of wine - so be careful!
Raclette
This mountain dish will really warm the cockles. Firstly, you will need a good round of raclette cheese. The traditional semi-hard Swiss cheese is made from cow’s milk and is ideal for melting. Raclette grills come in either a large communal version (which can melt a round of cheese for approximately 8 people), or small individual versions, suitable for pre-cut cheese slices. After your 5-minute prep work is done, the cooking takes around 30 minutes.
Enjoy the heart-warming raclette, a perfect meal for Haute Savoie’s cold weather
Ingredients:
1.5 – 2kg Raclette cheese (per person)
8 baked potatoes (skins on)
1 jar mini pickled gherkins
1 jar cocktail onions
A selection of ham & cured meats (16 slices or so)
+ Oven & Raclette grill
Recipe:
Firstly, bake the potatoes in their skins. Next, melt the Raclette cheese in front of the heat source, with the mini gherkins and cocktail onions. You may also wish to put in vegetables of your choice (mushrooms, peppers or sweetcorn for example).
Pour the melted mixture over the baked potatoes, et voila! Eat and enjoy, with a selection of ham and cured meats.
La Tartiflette
A tempting winter warmer throughout the Alps, La Tartiflette is a much-loved Savoy dish. The word is thought to derive from the Arpitan word for potato, ‘tartiflâ’. This recipe easily feeds 4. So, get the fire on, wine glasses out and tuck into this memorable Chamonix meal!
![French tartiflette, with potatoes, bacon and reblochon]( "French tartiflette, with potatoes, bacon and reblochon")
Tasty and easy to make, the French Tartiflette
Ingredients:
1 Reblochon cheese (sliced)
1kg Charlotte potatoes, peeled
3 onions (chopped)
2 shallots (chopped)
1 peeled garlic clove (chopped)
250 grams bacon lardons
200ml double cream
Salt & pepper, to season
Butter
+ Oven, frying pan, knife & ovenproof gratin dish
Recipe:
Pre-heat the oven to 200c/400F/Gas mark 7. Next, boil the potatoes in salted water for 5-10 minutes until tender. Drain the potatoes and allow them to cool off by the side. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan. Once hot, add the onions, shallots, garlic and bacon lardons to the frying pan for 4-5 minutes, until golden brown.
Add a dash of white wine to deglaze the pan. Thinly slice the cooled potatoes and place them on the bottom layer of an ovenproof gratin dish. Next, pour over the fried mixture, the double cream and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Next, layer the Reblochon slices on top. Pop the dish into the pre-heated oven for approximately 10-15 minutes, until the top is bubbling away and is temptingly golden-brown. Serve with gherkins, cured meats, a fresh salad and a good glass of Savoie white wine.
Tip: If you feel like eating pasta, swap the baked potatoes with crozets, a tasty and small savoyarde buckwheat pasta, cook them in a saucepan with hot water for 20 minutes and strain once cooked. Now you could have your equally delicious croziflette!
…And for dessert?
One heavenly option is the regional ‘La Tarte aux Myrtilles', otherwise known as Blueberry Tart!
La Tarte aux Myrtilles
This traditional desert is hugely popular across the French Alps, and for good reason. Blueberries grow in abundance throughout the Alpine forests, yielding plenty of fruit in the summer. The flavoursome berries feature in plenty of local dishes, from jams and ice cream to crepes. Enjoy these delicious fruits with this gloriously easy-to-make recipe, perfect for 10.
![Delicious tarte aux myrtilles on wooden board]( "Delicious tarte aux myrtilles on wooden board")
The exquisite and juicy Tarte aux Myrtilles
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
8 tbsp butter
6 cups rinsed and dried Blueberries
2 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
3 tbsp lemon juice
A pinch of salt
+ Mixing bowl, small & medium-sized saucepan, 9-inch flan dish, fork, spatula & food processor
Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 190C/ 375F/ Gas mark 5. Combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter in the food processor until the crumbs are moist and the dough holds together. Place mixture into a round flan dish, with a removeable bottom.
Press the dough evenly into the bottom, and up the sides. Freeze until firm (about 15 minutes). Take the unbaked tart out of the freezer and prick the bottom with a fork. Next, bake the flan in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Leave on the side, to cool completely.
Meanwhile, put aside 1 cup of the best-looking blueberries (for the topping). In a medium-sized saucepan, bring 1-4 cup of water and 1 ½ cups of blueberries to the boil, over a high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat down to a simmer, stirring occasionally. In 3-4 minutes, the mixture will have softened.
Then, in a small bowl, mix the corn starch with 2 tbsp water, before stirring in with the blueberries. Add lemon zest and lemon juice, then the sugar and a pinch of salt. Bring the mixture back to the boil, before reducing the heat again to a simmer. Stir the mixture until it thickens (1/2 – 1 minute).
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in 3 ½ further cups of blueberries. Pour the berry mixture into the cooled tart base, smoothing over with a spatula. Scatter the final cup of best-looking blueberries on top. Pop the tart into the fridge and cool for 30 minutes (the tart can also be left to chill overnight).
Tip: All these Savoie dishes are heartwarmingly hearty. If you're feeling a little on the full side afterwards, a shot (or 2) of the ‘Genepi’ spirit, (a local Savoie ‘disgestif’), will do the trick!
And to drink?
Wash these delicious Haute Savoie dishes down with a glass of authentic regional wine! Another popular drink is the Bidoyon, a local cider made of apples or pears.
The best typical Savoyard cuisine restaurants in Chamonix Mont-Blanc
If you are not into cooking, you can still taste delicious Savoie recipes in the traditional restaurants of the region. Here you are some of them:
La Calèche: 18 Rue du Dr Paccard, 74400 Chamonix, a typical restaurant in a very atmospheric location. La Cabane des Praz: 23 Route du Golf, Les Praz, 74400 Chamonix, very nice location with the possibility of alfresco dining. Le Castel: 100 Route des Tines, Les Praz, 74400 Chamonix, a restaurant in a beautiful chalet. La P’tite Verte: 89 rue Charlet Straton, Argentiere, 74400 Chamonix, quiet and affordable. La Crèmerie du Glacier: 100 Route des Tines, Argentière, 74400 Chamonix, typical Savoyard cuisine in the middle of the mountain. La Bergerie de Planpraz: Télécabine du Brévent, 74400 Chamonix Mont-Blanc, Perfect for those of you who don´t want to leave the slopes to enjoy great food. La Maison Carrier: 44 route du Bouchet, 74400 Chamonix Mont-Blanc, high end Michelin restaurant, ideal to celebrate something. Le Carrousel: 27 rue de la Tour, 74400 Chamonix Mont-Blanc, a creative French cuisine in a festive environment. Josephine: 76 avenue Michel Croz, 74400, Chamonix for a lighter fair at lunch in a Paris-inspired café. La Rose du Pont: 43 Pl. Balmat, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc another atmospheric Paris-inspired café. La Moraine: 5 Av. Ravanel le Rouge, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, a traditional Savoyard restaurant for all those looking for typical Alpes food. Big Horn: 77 Pl. Edmond Desailloud, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, an American inspired restaurant with home-made food to die for. Le Serac: 22 rue de la Comtesse, 74170, St Gervais les Bains, a must-try 1 Michelin Star restaurant. Bistro Serac: 40 avenue du Mont Paccard, 74170, St Gervais les Bains, right next to Le Serac, has a more affordable and take-away grill type of menu.
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Tasty and easy to make, the French Tartiflette 
