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Label Rouge — Rhône-Alpes
A Savoyard potato gratin smothered in melted Reblochon — the star of the après-ski table, born barely forty years ago from a stroke of marketing genius.
Traditional dish from Rhône-Alpes, Label Rouge since 2014.
Contrary to the image of an ancestral dish passed down from generation to generation, tartiflette is a recent creation: the word itself appeared in the 1980s, coined by the Syndicat Interprofessionnel du Reblochon to revive consumption of this raw-milk cheese, which was then primarily regional. The aim of this promotional campaign was explicit — to make this gratin a flagship dish of ski resorts, first in Savoie and then throughout France.
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The recipe is inspired by an old dish from the Aravis massif, 'pela': potatoes and onions cooked in a long-handled frying pan and browned with Reblochon, without cream. Modern tartiflette takes this foundation but transforms it — sliced rather than diced potatoes, the addition of lardons and a dash of white wine, and baking in the oven rather than cooking in a pan, for a creamier gratin texture.
The dish met with immediate success in winter sports resorts before being adopted across Savoie, and then throughout France. Today, it ranks among the mountain dishes most closely identified with French cuisine, cited as such even in food guides intended for foreign visitors. In 2014, prepared versions made with Reblochon de Savoie PDO even earned a Label Rouge — a recognition aimed at industrial and catering tartiflettes, not the recipe as served in restaurants.
Appearance
Golden gratin, tender potato slices smothered beneath a layer of melted Reblochon with a lightly browned crust, scattered with lardons and onions.
Taste
A rich, generous dish, dominated by the unctuous richness of melted Reblochon, lifted by the savoury saltiness of the lardons.
Texture
Meltingly soft for the potatoes and cheese, with occasional crunch from the lardons.
potatoes pre-cooked then sliced.
potato slices arranged with lardons, sliced onions and crème fraîche, drizzled with a splash of white wine.
the dish is covered with Reblochon before cooking, a cheese considered essential to the dish's authenticity.
gratin browned in the oven, unlike traditional pela cooked in a frying pan.
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The richness of the dish, carried by the fat of the melted Reblochon and the lardons, calls for crisp, lively white wines with good acidity capable of counterbalancing it: Savoie whites such as Chignin, Apremont or Roussette de Savoie, both fresh and fleshy, are the most frequently cited pairings.
Since: 2014
Area covered: Massif des Aravis (Haute-Savoie), cradle of the traditional dish 'pela' and of Reblochon — since spread to ski resorts throughout Savoie
Key requirements: Applicable to prepared tartiflettes (fresh or frozen, sold in supermarkets or by caterers), made with Reblochon de Savoie PDO (AOP). Specification LA/02/14, held by the Association de promotion des produits alimentaires à base de Reblochon (APPARe), Maison du Reblochon, Thônes, under the supervision of the certifying body CERTIPAQ.
Does not certify tartiflette as served in restaurants or prepared at home, but industrial/catered preparations made with Reblochon de Savoie PDO.
The dish itself — served in restaurants or prepared at home — is not protected by any official quality mark: it is not an ancient recipe but a twentieth-century commercial creation, with no public specification codifying it. Only the accompanying Reblochon is a PDO in its own right.
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