The pictured sandwich doesn't have béchamel sauce and cheese on top, probably to show the bread better.
The croque monsieur is made by putting a slice of ham, some cheese, and some dijon mustard in between two slices of lightly toasted or grilled bread, then pouring a béchamel sauce over the top with a little grated cheese. That goes into the oven to get hot and to melt the cheese. You can turn it into a croque madame by topping it all with a fried egg.
This looks like a Begian-style "Croque"... if there is any bechamel sauce... it is inside.... normally, there's just a lot of mild, melty cheese!
ReplyDeleteJacquet should go back to school and be given a fine for not putting an hyphen where it belongs between croque and monsieur.
ReplyDeleteThis being said, it seems bechamel is optional and being used in both monsieur and madame. I never had a croque-monsieur with bechamel.
You've led a very sheltered life, CHM. LOL
DeleteI do not care if the English language is going to the dogs, but I do care about the integrity of my own language and its genius. Hyphens are an integral part of the French grammar and cannot be dismissed at will. M. Blanquer, the French Secretary of Education, has reinstated dictées in schools so the French pupils can learn how to spell and write their own language. Good for him, but you'd probably say he's also lived a very sheltered life! LOL!
DeleteIf I understand this correctly, a croque-monsieur (paying attention to chm, I am) is what we used to call a grilled ham-and-cheese, non?
ReplyDeleteA lot of recipes call for mixing grated cheese with some crème fraîche and spreading that on the top of the sandwich before baking/toasting it. Emm, yes, without béchamel or crème, the sandwich is just a toasted ham-and-cheese.
ReplyDeleteI see that you avoid using the term croque-monsieur and instead talk about a sandwich, which could be anything, with or without bechamel, cream or what else!
Deletetim, I don't think I've ever had a Belgian-style croque.
ReplyDeletechm, how much is the fine? I committed the same offense... :)
emm, more or less!
I would have picked up that packages thinking the ham and cheese and mustard were included!
ReplyDeleteFor natives of the language there is a stiff fine of 2 million euros for the first offense, for subsequent offenses it is exponential. For non-natives, the fine is the symbolic 1 euro, with the agreement not to do it again, ever!
ReplyDeleteI'm not even sure there are any native speakers of the language that you are talking about! You should hear the way people talk, especially on the radio and on television. Every other word is English. But a native English speaker wouldn't understand those words. And people almost never pronounce those mandatory hyphens!
DeleteI love a well-made croque monsieur!
ReplyDelete