Tartiflette

Potato, bacon, and cheese bake from Haute-Savoie

Durrus Cheese

Tartiflette 🔗

Trish Deseine wrote in the Irish Times that while Tartiflette may be a French recipe, its ingredients feel very Irish [1]. She based this version on one from Durrus Cheese in West Cork [2], part of their 40th anniversary celebrations, which is very appropriate, as the original recipe was invented in the 1980s to sell more Reblochon.

The Durrus version includes wine and garlic, which are optional, and I have adjusted the quantities to suit four people. Felicity Cloake notes in the Guardian that the potatoes must be the firm, waxy kind, as floury ones will dissolve into mush, and agrees they should be parboiled first [1].

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Ingredients

  • 500 g small waxy potatoes | scrubbed, skins left on [Orla, Emily, Charlotte, all work]
  • 25 g butter
  • 1 large onion | thinly sliced
  • 200 g streaky bacon | diced into lardons
  • 20 cl dry white wine [optional]
  • black pepper
  • 400 g Durrus cheese (or Reblochon)
  • 1 clove garlic | peeled and halved [optional]
  • 5 tbsp double cream (or crème fraîche)

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

  2. Steam or parboil the potatoes for 10–15 minutes or until they are almost cooked but still show some resistence when pierced with a knife.

  3. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the butter in a pan on a low heat and soften the onion for 4–5 minutes.

  4. Increase the heat and add the bacon, stirring until it starts to go golden.

  5. When the potatoes are ready, cut them into 3cm chunks, keeping the skins on.

    Tip them into the onion and bacon mix, add the wine, and stir gently so as not to break it all up too much.

    Add a little freshly-ground pepper (no need for salt with the bacon and cheese).

  6. Scrape the whole lot out into a casserole or gratin dish, previously rubbed with the split clove of garlic;

    Pour or dot the cream over the top, then lay the slices of cheese on top;

    Cook in the oven for 10–15 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and the potatoes cooked.

Serving

  • Leave to cool slightly before serving with a green salad or vegetable.

References

  1. Deseine, Trish (2020) Melting Point. In The Irish Times The Gloss Magazine, Dublin, 2020-01-09, p.44. 🔗
  2. Durrus Cheese (2018) Tartiflette. Durrus Cheese, Durrus, Bantry, Ireland. 🔗
  3. Cloake, Felicity (2014) How to cook the perfect tartiflette. In The Guardian Food, London, 2014-02-27. 🔗

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