Conference "A whole cheese! What history says about Savoie cheeses"

Everyone knows the stories of the Aravis peasants who "rebloched" to defraud the tax collector or of the Avignon cardinals who tasted Abondance cheese in 1381... But aren't these stories a little too good to be true?

Here is a talk about Alpine cheeses that will please no one. Industrialists, journalists, politicians, farmers, unions, Savoyards, Valaisans, and even consumers will not appreciate it. Why? Because the author explains that the founding myths of the history of a few sacrosanct Alpine cheeses are nothing more than a mythology of characters and situations created from scratch by communicators who are experts in the art of storytelling. Come on! These Aravis peasants who "rebloch" to defraud the tax collector, this Avignon pope tasting Abondance cheese in 1381 or this doctor from Sion discovering raclette in 1574: all this would therefore be nothing more than a load of nonsense? But then for whom and for what?

Before answering this question, the author invites you to take an exotic stroll in the footsteps of the real historical cheese. It will take you from northern Poland in Kujavia to Egypt in a tomb of a high priest of Ramses II, passing through northwest China in the Taklamakan desert. The focus will then narrow in on the Alps. From the iron mines of Hallsatt in Austria to the mountain pastures of medieval Savoy, verifiable sources reveal the names and nature of the real historical cheeses. Surprise? These are not the ones we are sold!

The speaker
Arnaud Delerce holds a doctorate in history from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. He has taught at the universities of Lausanne and Savoie Mont-Blanc. His research focuses on the history and archives of Savoyard monasteries, justice, and cultural mediation. After having directed the Château de Montrottier near Annecy, he is now director of the Château des Rubins in Sallanches.