SC - Au Gratin (a semi-retraction)

[CBlackwill at aol.com]

Good gentles,

    Immediately after posting my message in which I claimed that the term "au 
gratin" does not necessarily imply the use of cheese, I got an uneasy feeling 
that I may have been wrong.  After a little research into the subject, this 
is what I came up with:

The term "au gratin" does not necessarily imply the use of cheese.  This is 
true.  However, in the vast majority of "au gratin" dishes I have examined, 
the use of Mornay sauce (which is redolent with Gruyere) is in fact used as a 
topping, prior to the addition of buttered bread crumb (or, in fact, more 
cheese).  "au Fromage", however, does imply the use of cheese as a topping 
prior to browning in the oven.  I won't pick nits if you won't....

So, all you kind folks who insist that your dishes covered with cheese and 
baked are "au gratin", go ahead.  They may well be, after all.  Enjoy.

Balthazar of Blackmoor.

Man cannot live on bread alone... he must have beer to soak it in.