By Mark Frary, Ski Editor of Times Online
The French people’s love of food and wine does not stop at the base of the mountain. Middle-class Parisians who eat in Michelin-starred restaurants while at home want the same quality when they head for the mountains. It is for this reason that resorts popular with Parisians, such as Megève and Courchevel, have restaurants where the food is the equal of anything that can be found in the big city.
In addition to the seafood, fine meats and rich sauces of the Michelin-starred restaurants, there is another vein of food that is alive and well in the mountains, based on the other French staple, cheese.
One of skiing’s most famous cheese dishes, tartiflette, gets its name from a Savoyard dialect word for potatoes – one of its principal ingredients. Yet all is not what it seems about this hearty concoction of Reblochon cheese, bacon and spuds. Despite seeming like a traditional supper that might have been enjoyed by gnarled shepherds in their high mountain shacks, tartiflette was invented by an agency promoting Reblochon cheese in 1980. That doesn’t detract from the fact that many skiers coming to France now consider this an essential part of any holiday in the mountains.
The other two dishes often found in restaurants in French ski resorts are fondue and raclette. Both are Swiss inventions but have crossed the border. However, French – or Savoyarde - fondue tends to be different from its Swiss cousin. It is typically made from a combination of Comte, Beaufort and Emmental cheeses and is not as thick and creamy as the Swiss stuff but it follows the same principle: you dip hard bread cubes into the hot, gloopy mixture – a perfect lining for a skiing stomach.
What better to finish off a hearty skiing lunch than a slug from a mysterious bottle whisked from under the patron’s apron? This is likely to be home-distilled génépy, a goldy-green infusion of the flowers of the Alpine herb Artemisia. It’s strong stuff and an acquired taste but génépy gives you a glow in the stomach that sets you on the right track – albeit a wobbly one - for an afternoon on the slopes.
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