Croque-monsieur

"Croque" redirects here. For the town in Canada, see Croque, Newfoundland and Labrador.

croque monsieur

Origin
Place of origin	France
Details
Type	Sandwich
Serving temperature	Hot
Main ingredient(s)	Bread, whipped eggs, butter, boiled ham, cheese (typically Emmental), pepper and salt
Variations	croque madame

The croque monsieur (French pronunciation: ​[kʁɔk məsˈjøː]) is a baked or fried boiled ham and cheese sandwich. Traditionally made with (slightly sugared) Brioche-like bread pieces (pain de mie, not the usual white toast bread), or with normal butter bread, but with a soft crust, topped with grated cheese of the same type, slightly salted and peppered. Instead of the butter bread, the bread is optionally "browned" (e.g. grilled) before and then dipped in whipped eggs, then the whole sandwich is finally baked in the oven (sophisticated café version), or fried in the fry pan (home version), but not ordinarily grilled (or then grilled in a particularly croque-monsieur-specific horizontal grill), so that the top cheese can melt over the bread's edges.

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. Its earliest mention in literature appears to be in volume two of Proust's In Search of Lost Time in 1918.

Variations

A croque monsieur served with a poached or lightly fried egg on top is known as a croque madame (or in parts of Normandy a croque-à-cheval). Many dictionaries 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.

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.

Versions of the sandwich with substitutions or additional ingredients are given names modelled on the original croque-monsieur, for example:

• croque provençal (with tomato)
• croque auvergnat (with bleu d'Auvergne cheese)
• croque gagnet (with Gouda cheese and andouille sausage)
• croque norvégien (with smoked salmon instead of ham)
• croque tartiflette (with sliced potatoes and Reblochon cheese)
• 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, which he demonstrated in the "Our Favorite Sandwiches" 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

• Croque provencal.jpg

  A croque provençal

• Croquegagnet.jpg

  A croque gagnet

See also

• Welsh rarebit
• Grilled cheese sandwich
• Ham and cheese sandwich
• Francesinha
• Monte Cristo sandwich
• Strammer Max
• List of sandwiches