Simply Made With Potatoes & Cheese
Found The Wrong "Truffade"?
I am sorry if you reached this page praising the virtues of a French potato dish called Truffade instead of a sleek and "sassy" Truffade Thrax or Truffade Nero! But, this is a smooth, rich, luscious potato ride across the gap between your plate and taste buds. Potato Truffade is a classy ride to "danse ta bouche" like the other two will "danse ta monter"!
Truffade is a traditional French dish, easy and quick to put together with only 2 basic ingredients in one pan. This Tartiflette Recipe is similar but a little more elaborate to make and Pommes Aligot shares the same 2 main ingredients as this recipe, potatoes and cheese. But, different cooking methods and ways of combining the food make for three mouthwatering distinguished potato dishes, none unlike Scalloped Potatoes!
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🥔What Is Truffade?
It is likened to a thick pancake made with thinly sliced potatoes that are slowly cooked in goose or duck fat until tender, then mixed with thin strips of Tome Fraîche de Cantal.
This mix is stirred until it sticks together in a thick pastry or pancake, sometimes decorated with fresh parsley.
❔What is Tome Fraîche de Cantal cheese like?
It is a firm buttery tasting cheese and according to The Taste Atlas, "Tomme fraîche has a soft texture and a mild, milky, slightly sour taste, plus melts extremely well."
So you can imagine how good this will taste!
🙌Similar Dishes?
Truffade is not the same as Aligot Potatoes, even though they are from the same region of France, Auvergne. But it is a variation on the same theme with potatoes and cheese. Tartiflette and Gratin Dauphinois are other French classics that are sliced potatoes and cheese. All three of these dishes could be considered close to the North American popular dish featured here at Gimme Some Oven, Scalloped Potatoes.
Potato Soup With Cheese and this Tasty Leek And Potato Soup (no cheese here, just creamy goodness) is also made primarily from the same main ingredients, potatoes, and cheese, with onions and a selection of condiments added in. Both are delicious creamy soups.
🔄What Substitutions Will Work?
It is important to use Tome fraîche de Cantal, a cheese that is quite different from regular Tomme cheese. The recipe won't be the same if Tomme cheese is used because it melts in a very different way than Tome Fraîche. The problem with this is that regular Tomme cheese is widely available in the UK and the USA, but the Tome fraîche de Cantal isn't. Even so, although I've pointed out the deficiency, try it with Tomme if that is all you can get, but it would never get a French seal of approval. 😉
(You can in a pinch, substitute a sharp cheddar mixed with mozzarella cheese, but the same deficiencies hold true as the Tomme.) But, if you have never tasted the original version of this recipe then you will probably love it with a substitute!
🤔What To Serve With This Recipe?
- Peppered Steak is a perfect pairing with this potato recipe and your pick of asparagus recipes for a wonderful side dish.
- Lemon Roasted Chicken along with Smashed Brussel Sprouts.
- Homemade Fish Balls and Try Our Bacon Salad Recipe For A Flavorful Twist, they make a fabulous threesome.
❄️Storage
Refrigeration - it is fine to keep leftovers in the fridge for a few days but it is best eaten the day it is made. It will lose quality as it sits.
Freezing - is not a good plan. Potatoes do not freeze well as they are mealy when unthawed. The entire texture of this dish would be changed after freezing. It is best to make what can be eaten in one meal.
Kitchen Tools
- mandoline or vegetable slicer
- large flipper
- cast-iron pan
- heavy-bottomed pan
- cheese slicer
❔FAQ
Three things: the potato, the type of cheese used, and the cooking method. Aligot is a mashed potato dish with stringy cheese added and then whipped into the potato to make it stretchy. Whereas to make Truffade, potato is thinly sliced and then sautéed in fat. When cooked the cheese is added to melt into the potato, and a pancake potato dish is created.
Truffade pairs very well with a tannic red wine, such as a Bordeaux, a Côtes du Rhône, or a Beaujolais.
Why call this dish "Truffade" if it doesn't contain truffle you ask? In fact, in Occitan, the word "Truffe" means potato. That's why the ancestors named this dish Truffade, because it's made with potatoes.
FYI (Occitan dialects are a result of the Latin influence on the language of the southern Gauls, whereas French has stronger Frankish influences.)
📖 Recipe
Truffade Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 gr /1 lb waxy potatoes, such as Charlotte, Red Bliss, French Fingerling, Red Gold and Red Norland, or Yukon Gold Any yellow or red skinned potato.
- 250 gr /½ lb Tome fraîche de Cantal cut into thin strips or small cubes although hard to match, cheese that will melt well will work like Cantal, Gruyère, Laguiole, or mozzarella
- 5 gr /3 tablespoon Duck fat Goose fat (lardon will do if the others are not available) or butter
- 1 large garlic clove finely chopped or mashed in a garlic press
- ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper
Instructions
- Peel and cut the potatoes into slices.
- Sauté until browned and tender in a large pan or casserole dish, and season with garlic, salt, and pepper.
- Add the cheese at the end of cooking.
- Mix gently with a spatula or wooden spoon until the cheese has melted.
- Once the 'pancake' is fairly well set, you can flip it over to brown the other side.
- Serve immediately with a green salad and slices of ham.
- Or add small pieces of lardons (thick lean bacon) to the potatoes while they are cooking, but it is not the “true” recipe. If you do use lardons, reduce the amount of salt.
Did you make this & like it or not, let us know?!