Soil Beaufortain massif is full of hidden treasures. Here, like in every mountain area, climate can be rude. To stay in good health mountain people enjoy eating. When you visit us you have to taste our local products which are part of our culture. Most of the time you can find the following products in farms, shops or restaurants: Beaufort, the prince of gruyères: this cheese is only make with Tarine & Abondance cows. It is a local heritage & mountain people are proud of it. In your plates or alone with a piece of bread you will enjoy his unique flavour. Sérac: this fresh cheese is made with the same milk and in the same time of Beaufort. You can eat it what ever you want hot with olive oil and salad or with sugar as a desert. It is not a famous cheese but it is delicious. Grataron: this is the third local cheese. It is only made in Beaufortain with goat milk. It used to be made in every Beaufortain house. Diots & pormoniers: those are two local sausages made with pig. For pormonier we just have to mixt it with fresh vegetables (spinach or leek...) before. You can cook it about 30min in bowling water or with onion and Savoie white wine for diots. The Beaufortain steak: unfortunately this is a pretty unknown meat. But it is a very high quality one. Her colour is browner than a usual beef meat but that does not mean it is not fresh. Raisiné: this sort of marmalade is made with apple and pear cooked in cider during 12 hours. Blueberry, wild strawberry & mushrooms... Beaufortain is a very generous region for those who like picking and respect nature.
Honey: our pasture flours are perfect to make sweet & delicious mountain honey. Génépi & Gentiane: those two liquors a very different to each other. They are made with a mountain plant called génépi for the first one and with gentiane roots for the second. Alcohol has to be drink with moderation. Le Farçon, les bougnettes, les gourres... are local winter meals. They are often made with potatoes and served with charcuterie.
Agriculture Shepherds are in charge of the mountains. They go up in pasture with their herd from the middle of June to the end of September or sometime the middle of October. The cooperative collect the milk twice a day in every farm even in the high pastures. Some farmers still use the traditional way to make the Beaufort cheese directly in the pastures. We call this special authentic cheese: Beaufort d'Alpage. They can make Beaufort on more than 450 000 hectares between Beaufortain and Tarentaise.
Beaufort Beaufort is AOC rated since 1968 To make Beaufort we must use milk from Tarine et Abondance cows. We need more than 10 litters of milk to make 1 kg of cheese One Beaufort cheese weight about 70 kg. The cheese will stay a minimum of 5 month in the cave On the cheese you can find signs: blue one means AOC & red one means Beaufort d'alpage AOC You can visit some farms & fabrics. More information at the Tourist Office.
Respect Before walking in our beautiful mountain you need to know that pasture grass is precious for farmers. When somebody walk in the cows do not it anymore. During your outings you will have to cross pastures and private properties, please respect the following advices: Only walk on marked tracks Do not walk across pastures Do not afraid herd Respect electric fence and do not forget to close the door behind you Do not let any garbage in the nature
