Diots de Savoie

The diot is the sausage of Savoie, the most common charcuterie dish in the region. Minced pork flavoured with nutmeg, stuffed into a casing, that you simmer slowly in white wine. It is a simple, hearty cooking, made to fill you up after a day outside. This page covers the diot and its recipe; for the charcuterie of Savoie at large, see the charcuterie of Savoie page.

The types of diots

There are several diots. The plain diot is the most common. The smoked diot has spent time in the smokehouse, which gives it a stronger taste. The cabbage diot has cabbage in the filling, milder. Alongside, the pormonier is an older variant with green vegetables, covered on the charcuterie page. All are cooked the same way, in white wine.

The white-wine diots recipe

For four people, plan on 8 diots, two onions, a good glass of dry Savoie white wine, a little stock, a spoon of flour and some butter.

Fry the sliced onions in butter until tender. Add the diots and let them colour for a few minutes on all sides. Dust with a little flour to bind, then pour in the white wine and a little stock to half-cover. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, turning the diots halfway. The sauce reduces and turns creamy.

Don’t prick the diots before cooking, they would go dry. Serve them hot, coated in their onion sauce.

Side dishes

The diot is traditionally served with potatoes, creamy polenta or crozets. A side of green vegetables or cabbage rounds out the dish well. Cold, the diot is also eaten in a sandwich, as a snack. It is a dish for sharing, gladly made in large quantities.

Which wine and where to find them

The diot calls for a Savoie red, mondeuse first of all, whose spicy notes and structure answer the sausage: see Savoie wines. You can also stay on the white used for cooking. For good diots, go to a country charcutier or a market rather than a supermarket, for example around Annecy or in the Aravis valleys. To place the diot among the specialities, see the Savoyard specialities page.