Eating in the Alps

Romain prepares the Raclette for our opening meal in the Alps.

French food is widely considered to be some of the best in the world and during our recent trip to the Alps, we were prepared to take one for the team and really find out how good it can be. We were warned by Romain that we would be consuming several great meals consisting of regional specialties with names like Raclette, Tartiflette, and Fondue. We came prepared and of course, the food was amazing.

Upon our arrival in the Alps on the evening of the 27th, Romain quickly informed us that we had about 15 minutes to unpack our bags before we had to leave for his uncle's house for the first of many great meals. We arrived to find that the evenings speciality would be Raclette, which consists of a meal of French cheese melted over potatoes. Sounds pretty simply, and it was, but the quality of the cheese really defines the Raclette. I believe we had Thome that evening which is a cheese native to the Haute-Savoie region of France. Of course we also had meats, other cheeses, breads, wine, and dessert (like any proper French meal), but the Raclette was what really hit the spot.

The table is set for Raclette.

The Raclette was only the appetizer of our fabulous tour of food in the Alps as I am convinced Romain planned it that way to acclimatize our Canadian stomachs for the culinary delights that would follow. Next on the menu was Tartiflette and for this specialty, we would be making it ourselves as Romain was going to put on a cooking demonstration for us. With Romain leading the way, Mindy and I followed him around the grocery store as he selected only the finest ingredients for the cooking workshop that was to follow.

The Tartiflette is now ready to bake.

Tartiflette is a dish made with potatoes, bacon, cream, onions, and of course, a specialty cheese native to the region called Reblochon. Once again it is a fairly simply dish, however the taste of all the ingredients baked together simply overwhelm the taste buds. Mindy took careful notes and is planning on importing this dish to Canada upon our return.

The group is ready to dig into some Tartiflette.

New Year's Eve in France is celebrated in style with of course, a fantastic meal. We were invited once again to the house of Romain's uncle where the Sauvage family warmly welcomed us and made us a part of the family for the evening as we sat down with a group of 21 people for a fabulous home cooked gourmet meal. We started the evening off with some meats, light cheeses, and bread to warm up the taste buds before proceeding to the second course of oysters on the half shell.

Twenty-one for dinner on New Year's.

Mindy is ready to try her first oyster!

This was a first for Mindy and although nervous at first, she tried them out and found out that they are actually pretty good! Next came the foie gras and another first for both Mindy and myself. Leading up the Christmas holidays, our students had raved about how good foie gras tasted. Now was our chance to find out and let me tell you, it lived up to its billing.

Foie gras on baked baguette with a little fig jam = Delicious!!!

After the foie gras we then had sausage and small potatoes with a salad for the main course. This was followed by the cheese platter of a variety of regional cheeses especially selected for the occasion. Dessert was another traditional French dish as we had a Buche de Noel, which is a Christmas log cake. It finished off a fantastic meal that only took about three and half hours to consume.

The cheese platter.

For our final meal in the Alps on New Year's Day, Romain reserved a table for the group at a restaurant built on top of a barn. Yes, that's right, a barn. As in the kind that cows live in. Thankfully there was plexiglas between us and the cows although a certain farmyard smell was still evident throughout the meal. It didn't really matter however as we prepared to feast on more Raclette and experience authentic Fondue. I know you can get Fondue in Canada, but I'm telling you it is simply not the same as the quality of cheese used in France is no comparison to the Canadian counterparts. After another five course meal including meats, cheeses, potatoes, more cheeses, and fruits, we were down for the count and ready to close this chapter of our trip to the Alps.

The group had no trouble polishing off the fondue and raclette.

Bon appetite from the Alps!