Tartiflette: where to taste it at Christmas markets

Tartiflette is a Savoyard gratin of potatoes, bacon lardons and onions, topped with a reblochon cut in two and baked in the oven, and this end-of-ski-day dish, made popular in the resorts in the 1980s, has become a chalet dish at the Christmas markets of Savoie and well beyond. It is served by the portion, in a tray, to take away or to eat standing up.

What goes into a traditional tartiflette

Potatoes, reblochon, lardons, onions, and sometimes a dash of white wine. Today’s version descends from the péla, and its name probably comes from the Savoyard word for potato. A Label Rouge “Tartiflette au Reblochon ou Reblochon de Savoie” exists, and it imposes PDO reblochon as the only cheese in the dish. At the stall, it cooks in a large pan or dish, then is served by the portion.

Where to eat tartiflette at a Christmas market

Reblochon country remains the first place to look for it: Annecy sells it to take away, Chambéry advertises it made with reblochon, and Megève, Thonon-les-Bains and Aix-les-Bains count it among their hot dishes. On the shores of Lake Geneva, the chalet cooking stays Savoyard, tartiflette, tarte flambée, crêpes and hot chestnuts, as our guide to mountain Christmas markets points out.

Outside Savoie, tartiflette is one chalet dish among others: Paris and La Défense, Caen and Deauville, Douai in its festive village, Vannes. You will find it in a tray, and Caen, La Défense and Paris serve raclette as well.