Croque monsieur and variations
For the past few months I've been on a crawl ... or croque-off ... in the SF Bay Area to see how various restaurants make this sandwich. Given the richness of the sandwich, I had to pace myself.
Actually half way through I changed to the croque-madame which was more interesting with an egg on top.
Anyway, according to the food timeline, a site that has sources for what it publishes, they use this from Larousse Gastronomique ...
"A hot sandwich, made of two slices of buttered bread with the crusts removed, filled with thin slices of Gruyere cheese and a slice of lean ham. The croque-monsieur is lightly browned on both sides, either in butter in a frying pan (skillet) or under the grill (broiler). The top my be coated with a Gruyere bechamel sauce and cooked au gratin. There are several possible variations on this basic recipe... The first croque-monsieur was served in 1910 in a Parisian cafe on the Boulevard des Capucines..."
A few other articles about the croque mention these variations ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croque-monsieur
http://frenchfood.about.com/od/toprecipes/a/croquelist.htm
croque provençal (tomatoes, Raclette cheese, and herbed mayonnaise)
croque auvergnat (with bleu d'Auvergne cheese)
croque norvégien (with smoked salmon instead of ham)
croque tartiflette (with sliced potatoes and Reblochon cheese)
croque Hawaii (with a slice of pineapple)
croque Bolognese (with Bolognese sauce)
Apple and Sage Croque Monsieur
The croque-monsieur begat the Monte Cristo according to the food timleline
http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodsandw...
Some of those variations sound good ... especially with blue cheese. Any others? I know. We are mainly talking ham and cheese sandwich ... just the French version.
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Non Cognomina
Jan 19, 2009 12:19 PM
I once had a "Bonjour Monsieur" sandwich in New Orleans. It was ham and cheese on a grilled po boy roll with creole seasoned bechamel. I thought it would have been better with an egg on it, but I guess that would make it a "Bonjour Madame.)
Have also had a "Croque Cubano" in NYC, which was basically a cubano sandwich (roast pork and swiss with pickles and mustard on grilled roll) with bechamel. That was a delicious sandwich!
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