Croque monsieur
 | |
| Type | Sandwich |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | France |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Bread, whipped eggs, butter, boiled ham, cheese (typically Emmental), pepper and salt |
| Variations | croque madame |
The croque monsieur (French pronunciation: [kʁɔk məsˈjøː]) is a sandwich traditionally made from boiled ham and Swiss cheese with sliced Brioche or white bread then fried in butter and sometimes finished off in an oven.
It originated in French cafés and bars as a quick snack.
Traditionally, Emmental, or Gruyère is used, optionally Comté cheese as well.
A croque madame is the same but topped with a fried egg.
The name is based on the verb croquer ("to bite") and the word monsieur ("mister"). The sandwich's first recorded appearance on a Parisian café menu was in 1910.[1] Its earliest mention in literature appears to be in volume two of Proust's In Search of Lost Time in 1918.[2]
Variations
A croque monsieur served with a poached or lightly fried egg on top is known as a croque madame[3] (or in parts of Normandy a croque-à-cheval). Many dictionaries[who?] attribute the name to the egg resembling an old fashioned woman's hat. According to the Petit Robert dictionary, the name dates to around 1960. The name croque-mademoiselle is associated with its lighter, vegetarian version: made of the same bread, but with ordinary melting cheese, accompanied with chives, cucumber and salad.[4]
A ham and cheese sandwich snack, very similar to the croque-monsieur though not containing any béchamel or egg, is called a tosti in the Netherlands, and toast (pronounced "tost") in Italy and Greece. Similarly, in the United Kingdom a ham and cheese hot snack is called a 'toastie', and toastie makers are available to buy. In the United States, the Monte Cristo, a ham-and-cheese sandwich often dipped in egg and fried, is popular diner fare. A version of this sandwich in Spain replaces the ham with sobrassada, a soft sausage from the Balearic Islands that can be easily spread. In Catalonia it is known as a bikini.[5]
Versions of the sandwich with substitutions or additional ingredients are given names modelled on the original croque-monsieur, for example:
- croque provençal (with tomato)[6]
- croque auvergnat (with bleu d'Auvergne cheese)[7]
- croque gagnet (with Gouda cheese and andouille sausage)
- croque norvégien (with smoked salmon instead of ham)[8]
- croque tartiflette (with sliced potatoes and Reblochon cheese)[6]
- croque bolognese / croque Boum-Boum (with Bolognese sauce)
- croque señor (with tomato salsa)
- croque Hawaiian (with a slice of pineapple)
The noted French chef Jacques Pepin also makes a version using chicken instead of ham,[9] which he demonstrated in the "Our Favorite Sandwiches"[10] episode on the PBS series (and its coordinating cookbook of the same title) Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home in which he worked with Julia Child.
-
A croque madame -
A croque provençal -
A croque gagnet
See also
Notes
References
- ^ Montagné, Prosper; Charlotte Snyder Turgeon; Nina Froud (1961). Larousse Gastronomique. New York City: Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 0-517-50333-6. OCLC 413918.[page needed]
- ^ Template:Fr icon Entry in the on-line Trésor de la langue française.
- ^ Dictionnaire général pour la maîtrise de la langue française, la culture classique et contemporaine. Paris: Larousse. 1993. p. 405. ISBN 2-03-320300-X. OCLC 29916226.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
aufemininwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ bikini « Iberianature
- ^ a b Croque Monsieur Recipes – History of the Croque Monsieur
- ^ Downie, David (23 July 2000). "Bread Winner". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Croque Norvegien |
- ^ Pepin, Jacques; Julia Child; David Nussbaum (September 1999). "Jacques's Croque Madame Recipe". Epicurious. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
- ^ "104: Our Favorite Sandwiches". Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home: The Episodes. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
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