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A ''croque monsieur'' () is a hot sandwich made with ham and
cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
. The name comes from the French words ''croque'' ("crunch") and ''monsieur'' ("mister").


History

The dish originated in
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
cafés and bars as a quick snack. In the early 1900s, bistro owner Michel Lunarca popularized the croque-monsieur.


Preparation

A ''croque monsieur'' is traditionally made with baked or boiled ham and sliced cheese between slices of ''
pain de mie ''Pain de mie'' is a white or brown bread with a thin, soft crust. It is mostly sold sliced and packaged in France. is the French word for "bread", and is the soft part of bread, called the crumb in English. Description ''Pain de mie'' is m ...
'', topped with grated cheese and slightly salted and peppered, and then baked in an oven or fried in a frying pan. The bread may optionally be browned by
grilling Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat a ...
after being dipped in beaten egg. Traditionally, Gruyère is used, but sometimes Comté or Emmental cheese as well. Some brasseries also add béchamel sauce. ''Croque monsieur'' may be baked or fried so that the cheese topping melts and forms a crust.


Variations

A croque monsieur served with a poached or lightly fried
egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...
on top is known as a ''croque madame'' (or, in parts of Normandy, as a ''croque-à-cheval''). 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 Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.
and lettuce. 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, and a 'grilled cheese sandwich' is a classic sandwich that has been enjoyed at home and in cafeteria-style restaurants since the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. Variants of the sandwich with substitutions or additional ingredients are given names modelled on the original ''croque-monsieur'', for example: File:Croque Madame, Paris July 6, 2011.jpg, A croque madame File:Croque provencal.jpg, A croque provençal File:Croquegagnet.jpg, A croque gagnet File:Francesinha especial.JPG, Portuguese version from Porto, called "Francesinha".


See also

* Welsh rarebit *
Grilled cheese sandwich A grilled cheese (sometimes known as a toasted sandwich or cheese toastie) is a hot sandwich typically prepared by heating one or more slices of cheese between slices of bread, with a cooking fat such as butter, on a frying pan, griddle, or san ...
* Ham and cheese sandwich *
Ham and egg bun Ham and egg bun is a type of Hong Kong pastry. It is a bun or bread that contains a sheet of egg and ham. It is commonly found in Hong Kong as well as some Chinatown bakery shops overseas. It is also a common meal in Brazil, simply called a ...
* Monte Cristo sandwich *
Francesinha Francesinha ( meaning ''Frenchie'') is a Portuguese sandwich originally from Porto, made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage like chipolata, steak or roast meat, and covered with melted cheese and a hot and thick spiced tomato ...
*
Strammer Max ''Strammer Max'' (English: roughly "Strapping Max") is a traditional name applied to various sandwich dishes in German cuisine. German dish The original is a slice of bread, sometimes fried in butter, covered with ham and fried egg. The ham m ...
*
Toastie A pie iron—also called pudgy pie iron, sandwich toaster, snackwicher, toastie maker, that consists of two hinged concave, round or square, cast iron or aluminium plates on long handles. Its "clamshell" design resembles that of a waffle iro ...
* List of ham dishes *
List of sandwiches A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croque-Monsieur French sandwiches French cuisine Ham dishes Cheese sandwiches Pork sandwiches