What is the difference between au gratin and gratin?
Gratin is a French word that means the crust that forms on top of a dish when you brown it in the oven or under the broiler. Potatoes au gratin are slices of pre-cooked (usually boiled) potato cooked in cream and topped with cheese which makes the gratin.
What makes a gratin a gratin?
Gratin (French pronunciation: [ɡʁatɛ̃]) is a culinary technique in which an ingredient is topped with a browned crust, often using breadcrumbs, grated cheese, egg or butter. A gratin is baked or cooked under an overhead grill or broiler to form a golden crust on top and is often served in its baking dish.
Which is better au gratin or scalloped?
The difference comes down to cheese. Scalloped potatoes are much simpler. Potatoes au gratin are a bit more decadent. They are made with lots of cheese sprinkled in between the layers of potatoes and also on top of the casserole.
What is the difference between dauphinoise potatoes and scalloped potatoes?
They may sound like the same thing, but in fact, they are quite different. Put simply, potatoes dauphine (pronounced “do-FEEN”) are deep-fried potato puffs while potatoes dauphinoise (“do-fin-WAHZ”) means baked scalloped potatoes.
What does gratin mean in French?
When you cook a dish au gratin, you sprinkle it with breadcrumbs and brown the top in a hot oven. Some au gratin recipes also call for melted, browned cheese. The phrase au gratin literally means “by grating” in French, or “with a crust,” from the verb gratter, “to scrape, scratch, or grate.”
Why are they called scalloped potatoes?
Scalloped potatoes got its name from the Old English word “collop” which means “to slice thinly” while au gratin potatoes got its name from the French words “grater” and “gratine” which means “to scrape” and “crust or skin,” respectively. 3.
What does dauphinoise mean in French?
Potatoes Dauphine and potatoes dauphinoise are part of French cuisine and referred to as pommes dauphine and pommes dauphinoise in French. Put simply, potatoes dauphine (pronounced “do-FEEN”) are deep-fried potato puffs while potatoes dauphinoise (“do-fin-WAHZ”) means baked scalloped potatoes.