Casserole: au gratin vs. scalloped potatoes
Subject: au gratin vs. scalloped potatoes
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: Dawn (d-duperault at not.aol.com)
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 02:02:42 GMT
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Are these just different words for the same dish or is there something inherently different about the two?
I've looked at recipes and they all seem to share common ingredients and baking methods, but my husband insists they are different.
From: Jill McQuown
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 21:03:12 -0500
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IMO they are different. Au gratin contains cheese. Scalloped is in a cream sauce. The general preparation is the same, however to the white (bechamel) sauce for au gratin you add grated cheese.
From: amberinauburn at aol.com (Amberinauburn)
Date: 23 Oct 2003 03:08:48 GMT
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Jill wrote:
>the general preparation is the same, however to the white (bechamel)
>sauce for au gratin you add grated cheese.
Jill, in my opinion you are 100% correct. Au Gratin has cheese.
From: Siobhan Perricone (morgannalefey at tds.net)
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 06:47:41 -0400
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Amberinauburn wrote:
>Jill, in my opinion you are 100% correct. Au Gratin has cheese.
Gratin is French for cheese. :) Not just opinion. ;D
From: Bob Pastorio (pastorio at rica.net)
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 10:46:07 -0400
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Siobhan Perricone wrote:
> Gratin is French for cheese. :) Not just opinion. ;D
Fromage is French for cheese. Gratin is about a cooking technique.
From: penmart01 at aol.como (Sheldon)
Date: 23 Oct 2003 14:42:51 GMT
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Amberinauburn writes:
>Jill, in my opinion you are 100% correct. Au Gratin has cheese.
Nope... au gratin simply refers to a browned topping, may be composed of cheese/buttered crumbs... one, the other, or both. So yoose are both 100% incorrect.
From: cyberplotterus at yahoo.com (Dawn)
Date: 23 Oct 2003 08:19:45 -0700
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Jill wrote:
> IMO they are different. Au gratin contains cheese. Scalloped is in a cream
> sauce. The general preparation is the same, however to the white (bechamel)
> sauce for au gratin you add grated cheese.
Thanks Jill. I think a lot of my confusion was because many, many "scalloped" recipes contain grated cheese and they are not called "au gratin."
From: Frogleg (frogleg at nowhere.com)
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 11:21:49 GMT
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Dawn wrote:
>Are these just different words for the same dish or is there something
>inherently different about the two?
From the Epicurious food dictionary:
"A gratin is any dish that is topped with cheese or bread crumbs mixed with bits of butter, then heated in the oven or under the broiler until brown and crispy. The terms au gratin or gratinée refer to any dish prepared in such a manner."
Gratin refers to the method, not the ingredients.
From the same source:
"Scallop: To prepare a food (most notably potatoes) by layering slices of it with cream or a creamy sauce in a casserole. Scalloped foods are often topped with bread or cracker crumbs before being baked."
So you can easily have scalloped potatoes au gratin, If cheese is added to the cream or white sauce, it becomes something a la mornay, mornay being bechamel (white sauce) to which cheese has been added.