The Village

In Abondance, good living and gastronomy can be found in both local produce and ancestral savoir faire. Abondance cheese, which was granted the AOC label (appellation d’origine contrôlée) in 1990, is a famous ambassador. It can be recognised by its amber crust and concave edge. 100 litres of milk are needed to make one cheese that weighs between 7 and 12 kilos. Taste buds will be seduced by the fineness of its fruity and hazelnut flavour. You can taste Abondance cheese in the village’s winter or summer restaurants, either served on a cheese board duriing the meal or as part of a traditional dish in which it is the essential ingredient, such as Berthoud, Poêlée baïse, croûte campagnarde or fondue savoyarde.

Recipe for a Berthoud

Ingredients :

Abondance cheese
Savoie white wine
Madeira
Ail
Nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Preparation :

In small ramekins rubbed with garlic, place thin slices of Abondance cheese. Add pepper, salt and nutmeg. Cover this with Savoie white wine and (optional) Madeira. Place in an oven preheated to 150-180° for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with jacket potatoes, mountain salami and smoked ham, and a side salad.

Apart from Abondance cheese, there’s a multitude of other wintry or summery local produce and specialities to titillate your senses! Savoury ? Diots, cabbage sausage, woodcutter’s bread, vacherin, stuffing, fidés, local ham and salami, grelots, croziflette, tartiflette, are all mouth-wateringly tasty. Or sweet? Try the bugnes, rissoles, crusty pastry, bilberry tarts, milk jam, Savoie crosses…And to wash them down? Let yourself be tempted by some white wine from the banks of lake Geneva (Ripaille, Crépy, Marin), or some local grappa (Génépy, Gentiane, grolle)…in moderation, of course.