Tartiflette au Reblochon (Taleggio)

Sorry this is coming out late, I was in the Desert at a Wedding with my Friends. 

I have recently been introduced to a large, unsavory population of western Europeans living in the very heart of Davis. These people have an appetite for drinking, eating, and dancing that I have yet to see matched in any of the natives. At parties with them I have noticed that I have a habit of talking about food frequently. The beautiful thing about food is that no matter how little you have in a common with a person, odds are they like food to some degree. Food is a window into their childhood, their hometown, their very culture that would be difficult to extract from normal conversation. Either that, or I'm slowly becoming the fat kid at the party who only wants to talk about food, but frankly I'm not ready to confront that fact just yet so lets pretend that's not the case, yes?

At one of the more intimate parties (read: less than 200 people in the penthouse apartment that every French person seems to be entitled to. Seriously though, where the fuck did all these baller apartments come from and why do they only rent to brilliant french people? Very frustrating) I asked a fellow from La Ferte Sous Jouarre what his favorite meal was. He did not hesitate. Tartiflette au Reblochon.
Reblochon is one of the many fine cheeses produced locally in the Haute-Savoie region. It is a very soft cheese and I'm told its fantastic. After going to two very reputable cheese stores with no luck, the cheese monger at the Co-Op did some research for me. Turns out, Reblochon has been illegal to import since 2004. This shattered me pretty hard, because it was made very very clear to me that all things could be substituted in the recipe, save the Reblochon. If it doesn't have Reblochon, its just an ugly potatoes au gratin. Alas, the recipe was too good not to attempt, and Taleggio, I was told by the kindly cheese monger to stop my violent sobbing, is a fine cheese in its own right and could certainly hold this dish together.

1 3/4 pounds of potatoes (I used Yukon Gold, but use whatever you would normally use in au gratin)
4 slices of thick cut bacon
2 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup heavy cream
8 ounces Taleggio cheese
Salt and pepper


Start by adding the potatoes to a pot of boiling salted water. Let them boil for about 15 minutes, then remove them from the pot and let them sit under cold running water for 30 seconds. While the water is still running, peal the skins off with your hands, it should rub right off. If its too hot, let them sit under the water longer you dummy. For your health! One the potatoes are peeled, let them cool further.

Dice the bacon into batonnets (quarter inch little sticks, I know its pretentious to call them that but its important that you learn these terms because Larousse Gastronomique uses them and  you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of that book, believe, believe) and cook them until crispy over medium high heat. Remove the crispy bacon from the pan. Pour off some of the bacon fat, leaving a tablespoon in the pan.

Dice and add the onion, cook until translucent then add the wine. Let that cook down on medium low heat while you chop the potatoes into 1/3 inch thick rounds. I didn't use a  big enough pan, so I had to move to a large pot at this point, but if you have a massive pan feel free to use one dish for this. Add the potatoes, bacon, and cream to the onions. Salt pretty heavily (this dish is about the furthest thing from healthy you can make, so no point in cutting corners on the salt) then let simmer for about two minutes, just to let everything come together.

coat a baking dish with the butter, then pour the potato mixture in. Traditionally you top this with a half a wheel of Reblochon, but my Taleggio was a bit ripe, so i removed the soft cheese from the rind and then added it on top.

Bake at 400 degrees until the cheese is bubbly and delicious looking, about 15 minutes for me but you know how I feel about baking. Set a timer for 12 minutes and then watch it. This is what oven lights are for and why people don't use them more is beyond me. I served this with a very large salad and a healthy amount of exercise the day of and after. This dish is fantastic but it will also kill you if you eat it more than once a year. You've been warned.