Strata is a family of layered casserole dishes in

American cuisine American cuisine consists of the cooking style and traditional dishes prepared in the United States. It has been significantly influenced by Europeans, indigenous Native Americans, Africans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and many other cultures a ...

. The most common modern variant is a

brunch Brunch is a meal eaten between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., sometimes accompanied by alcoholic drinks (typically champagne or a cocktail). The meal originated in the British hunt breakfast. The word ''brunch'' is a portmanteau of '' breakfast'' ...

dish, made from a mixture which mainly consists of bread,

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

and cheese. It may also include meat or

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

s. The usual preparation requires the bread to be layered with the filling in order to produce layers ( strata). It was popularized in the 1984 ''Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook'' by

Julee Rosso Julee Rosso is an American cook and food writer. In 1977 she and Sheila Lukins opened and ran a gourmet food shop in New York City called The Silver Palate. In the 1980s they wrote ''The Silver Palate Cookbook'', ''The Silver Palate Good Times Coo ...

and

Sheila Lukins Sheila Lukins (November 18, 1942 – August 30, 2009), was an American cook and food writer. She was most famous as the co-author, with Julee Rosso, of ''The Silver Palate'' series of cookbooks, and ''The New Basics Cookbook'', a very popular set o ...

. The first known recipe, the cheese strata, dates back to 1902 and contains bread, white sauce and cheese. Other recipes merely require that the ingredients are mixed together, like a savory

bread pudding Bread pudding is a bread-based dessert popular in many countries' cuisines. It is made with stale bread and milk or cream, generally containing eggs, a form of fat such as oil, butter or suet and, depending on whether the pudding is sweet or ...

. A beaten egg mixture is then poured over the ingredients. The dish requires a rest of anywhere between one hour and overnight before it is baked. It is served warm.

Cheese strata

The earliest strata recipe known is a 1902 recipe for ''Cheese strata'', a

gratin Gratin () is a culinary technique in which an ingredient is topped with a browned crust, often using breadcrumbs, grated cheese, egg or butter.Courtine, Robert J. (ed.) (2003) ''The Concise Larousse Gastronomique'' London: Hamlyn The term ma ...

of layers of bread,

white sauce White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, and cheese, but no eggs.Juniata L. Shepperd, ''Handbook of household science'', 190
full text
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Notes

Casserole dishes Egg dishes Italian-American cuisine Bread dishes {{food-stub

Cheese strata

See also

Notes