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ABSTRACT
Tartiflette has become an emblematic dish of the French Alps and the atmosphere of winter sports. Few realize that this hearty concoction of melted Reblochon cheese, potatoes and bacon is an invention of the 1980s, with dubious creation stories still contested in recipe books and magazines, and behind the scenes on its Wikipedia page. In this paper it is argued that the precise origin of tartiflette is less important than the aptness of its invention, the connections with tradition that are made for it, and the place it enjoys within the widely-held atmospheric imaginary of winter sports tourism. A runaway success story which has changed the face of the Reblochon cheese on which it is built, tartiflette appears today every bit as authentic an Alpine experience as downhill skiing itself. But by analyzing English and French language archival materials, and drawing upon ideas in cultural geography, anthropology and history, it is demonstrated that behind its authenticity lies a compelling story of re-invention that is inescapably part of the cultural expression of modernity.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. The word tartiflette is derived from the Savoyard word tartifla, meaning potato.
2. A longer version of this article is available from the author upon request.
3. L. Baylac/Chemins de fer PLM, St Gervais les Bains. Hte Savoie. Etablissement thermal. Nouvelles installations: Saison du 1er juin au 30 septembre, 1894, Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Gallica), Identifiant: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b90135163. Reproduction in this research publication in line with the Conditions d’utilisation des contenus de Gallica.
4. Some clarification may be helpful on the use of terms here. Savoy refers historically to the House of Savoy and the duchy and later kingdom under its control which covered parts of present-day France, Italy and Switzerland. In 1860, the western part of this territory, bordering France, came under French control and was entered into the French administrative system of départements as Haute-Savoie (the northern section, with the principal town of Annecy) and Savoie (with the principal town of Chambéry). Today those départements are part of the French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The term “Savoy” in this article is used to refer to the area consisting of both départements except where otherwise specified.
5. As depicted in various works of art, including Hippolyte Bellangé’s 1823 picture Le départ de petits Savoyards, available for consultation at the Archives départementales de la Haute-Savoie, Annecy.
6. Mürren was where British skiers first developed slalom in the 1920s, according to E. J. B. Allen, Values and sport, op. cit. 69.
7. Agence Rol, [Station de ski suisse de] Mürren (CNews), 1923, Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Gallica), Identifiant: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b53123510f . Reproduction in this research publication in line with the Conditions d’utilisation des contenus de Gallica.
8. Author’s translation of original French text. All translations are the author’s own unless otherwise indicated.
9. British Pathé, Fashions in a Ski Resort, 1965, Media URN: 89,218, Film ID: 3177.05. Image used under licence.
10. See his description of the Nautilus in Mythologies. This is also visible in, for instance, the recent fascination for the Danish lifestyle concept of hygge.
11. In the Swiss resort of Gstaad, for example, visitors can snowshoe over to “Fondueland” and gather around a cauldron of hot, bubbling cheese, whilst sitting outside in a giant wooden fondue pot-shaped bench and table and taking in the view from the cold mountainside itself. See: http://www.gstaad.ch/en/enjoyment/fondueland-gstaad.html.
12. Tartiflette (http://fr.wikipedia.org/Tartiflette).
13. Discussion: Tartiflette (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discussion:Tartiflette). Page accessed December 10, 2021.
14. Author’s translation of: “c’est la première fois que j’entends parler d’une Tartiflette sans lardons !!!”
15. Author’s translation of: “J’ai gardé la notion de terroir mais j’ai viré le mot ‘prestigieux’ qui n’a rien à faire ici.”
16. See: www.memoireetactualite.org. Site accessed and search performed: January 20, 2017.
17. Based on a search of the Gale General OneFile and ProQuest News and Newspapers online archives. Searches performed December 10, 2021.
18. Bourdeau, for example, discusses the “vrais-faux chalets tyroleans” or “real-fake Tyrolean chalets” in French ski resorts of the 1990s. P. Bourdeau, De l’après-ski, op.cit., 4. See also (Fourny Citation1987).
19. For example, an article from a regional newsletter of the 1970s and 1980s recounts a visit to an old farm, whose proprietor is pictured with his cattle on the ground floor, where Reblochon cheeses are observed ripening on shelves in another room, and which is described in rustic terms as “one of the last farms in La Clusaz where cheese is still made where one lives”. “De l’alpage à l’étable”, L’Echo des Alpages, 1979–1982 (Issues 1–11), Dossier PER 640 – Archives Départementales de la Haute-Savoie.
21. A. Perpillou’s detailed Utilization agricole du sol en France maps show the change in land use in the Savoy region, and elsewhere in France, between the mid-19th and mid-20th century, for example.
22. Anonymous, Historique de Reblochon – Fromage des Vallées de Thônes, Le Progrès (Edition Haute-Savoie – Savoie – Ain) Nos. 2613–15, 16 June – June 30, 1950 – Archives Départementales de la Haute-Savoie (Doc 761 (card index)).
23. Reproduced with permission from the Revue de Géographie Alpine.
24. Author’s translation of: “pour bien marquer la différence entre un produit à base d’ingrédients nobles et une cochonnerie de fast food”.
25. J.-F. Tourcaty, Carte Gastronomique de la France, 1809 – Cornell University Library Digital Collections (https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/ss:3293759).
26. On Instagram, search #tartiflette.