The Van Taste

“TARTIFLETTE” – FRENCH CHEESE-POTATO CASSEROLE

Tartiflette is, simply put, a potato casserole. But it is the combination of bacon, crème
fraîche, white wine and above all the Reblochon that gives it its unmistakable and
extremely tasty flavour. Definitely something for colder or rainy days when you are
snuggled up inside your van.

Ingredients (2 persons)
– 6 large potatoes
– 300 g Reblochon cheese (or other spicy soft cheese like Tomme or ripe Camembert)
– 200 g crème fraîche
– 100 ml white wine (2/3 C, preferably dry)
– 100 g bacon cubes
– 1 onion
– 1 clove of garlic
– salad of your choice
– 4 fresh figs
– some sugar
– salt & pepper

Preparation
1. Wash the potatoes and simmer in a medium pot with some salt for about 20 minutes
until they are cooked.
2. Drain, peel and slice the potatoes.
3. Peel the onion and garlic and cut into small cubes. Fry the bacon in a pan and after 3
minutes add the onion and garlic. Fry well.
4. Add the potato slices to the pan and fry those for about 5 minutes. Deglaze with white
wine and then add the crème fraîche. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Place the potato mixture in an ovenproof form (or the Omnia oven). Cut the Reblochon
lengthwise in halfs and place it on the potato mixture with the rind facing down.
6. a) Cook in the preheated oven for 20 minutes at medium heat (170 degrees).
b) Cook in the Omnia Oven at medium heat for about 20 minutes.
7. In the meantime cut the figs in half and lightly sugar on the inside. Caramelise them in a
hot pan with the sugared side facing down for about two minutes.
8. Then arrange it in a salad and serve with the potato casserole.

Info:
France is famous as the country of cheeses. There are more than 350 types of cheese
between the Pyrenees and Lille. In order to get to know as many of them as possible, there
are seven major cheese roads, which lead to farms, producers, cheese shops and provide
further information about cheese.

A cooking course in Bruges
When I snuffed cocoa and learned to prepare real fries

I only spent a few days in Belgium and wanted to make the most of the limited time
available to discover the culinary landscape. A cooking course is simply perfect for this – so
I booked one at the brewery “Bourgogne des Flandres“ in Bruges (contact details page
193). There I met Anne, the chef, who accommodated me and eight other participants in
her kitchen that afternoon. We were a very colourful group of travellers from five different
countries, and we got along very well right away.

During the cooking course we learned how to make real Belgian fries and started with the
preparation of the raw potatoes. They were then fried in two stages and at different
temperatures until they were soft inside and crispy outside. Of course, homemade Belgian
mayonnaise was not to be missed either.
For dessert, we prepared an airy mousse au chocolat with high-quality Belgian chocolate
and sprinkled it with a little salt at the end for that special kick.

After we had prepared our meals, we all sat down together at a long wooden table and
enjoyed our homemade fries. We also got five different house beers to taste, and Anne had
a surprise for us. She offered us two different kinds of cocoa for “snuffing”. This kind of
dessert was once developed by a star chef for the royal family and is therefore a very high
quality experience. You place special loose cocoa on a small surface that is attached to a
miniature “catapult”. You then hold this surface under your nose and press a trigger with
your finger so that the snap-mechanism is activated and the cocoa powder is shot right up
the nose. You have to inhale through your nose at the same time – an absolute explosion of
smell! The aromas of the cocoa immediately spread throughout the sinuses and kind of
through the whole head too. A unique, funny experience!
We all enjoyed the time so much, that we stayed for a few more beers and had a
wonderful evening together.