Tartiflette — Savoie, France

Tartiflette is a potato bake finished under a whole round of reblochon cheese, split through its middle and set rind-side up so it melts into a single golden layer over the top. Unlike many regional dishes, its recent origin is well documented rather than lost in the distance. It is reported across Savoie generally, without one town claiming it, and is closely tied to the region's ski resorts, where it became a staple of chalet menus from the 1980s. It grew out of an older farmhouse habit — pan-frying potatoes with cheese — known locally as péla, and its name comes from tartifle, the Savoyard word for potato; a producers' body promoted the dish in that decade to boost sales of reblochon. Potatoes are parboiled, peeled and sliced thickly, then browned in a pan with lardons and onions and deglazed with a little white wine from Savoie. The mixture goes into a garlic-rubbed dish with a splash of cream, topped with the reblochon cut horizontally and laid rind-up, then baked until the cheese has fully melted and coloured across the surface. What sets tartiflette apart from other potato-and-cheese bakes of the Alps is the use of a whole reblochon rather than grated cheese, left largely intact so it forms a distinct melted cap rather than blending into the potatoes. Its short history — a 20th-century dish built from older habits — is generally acknowledged rather than hidden.