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Recetas

Here is the difference between Croque-Monsieur and Croque-Madame (and the recipes to prepare them at home)

They are the most famous sandwiches in French gastronomy and this is what sets them apart. We show you their simple recipe so you can enjoy them at home.
by TAPASReading time 2 minutes
Receta de croque-monsieur

Click here to read the Spanish version.

If there is an emblematic sandwich in French cuisine, it is the Croque-Monsieur, a kind of what we know as a mixed sandwich, but tastier. It is a very simple dish consisting of sliced bread, ham, Emmental or Gruyere cheese and béchamel (butter or crème fraîche). Although it is said to have first appeared on a menu in a Parisian café in 1910, the sandwich was first mentioned in the late 19th century, in the Revue athlétique, as an innovation to break out of the ham rut and create that first croque-monsieur with toast, ham, cayenne pepper, Gruyere cheese and butter, and put it in a frying pan.

Later a variant called Croque-Madame emerged, which is exactly the same as the original, but with the addition of a fried egg on top. It is said to be so named because the egg topping the slice of bread was reminiscent of the hats worn by the women of the time. If you want to make either sandwich at home, take note because this is the recipe with béchamel sauce to cook them in 10 minutes.

Croque-Monsieur recipe

Ingredients:

  • 200 g of york ham
  • 200 g Emmental
  • 120 g mustard
  • Sliced bread
  • For the béchamel sauce
    • 300 ml milk
    • 30 g flour
    • 30 g butter
    • Nutmeg
    • Salt

Preparation:

  • Prepare the béchamel sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan and then adding the flour and stirring well.
  • Pour in the hot milk and stir again, seasoning with the salt and nutmeg. Leave to cool.
  • Grate the cheese.
  • Spread bechamen on each slice of bread. Cover with the grated cheese and top with the cooked ham.
  • On the top slice of bread, also spread a little mustard. Assemble the sandwich and spread more bechamel sauce on top.
  • Finally, top with more grated cheese and bake in the oven for 5 minutes at 250°C for 5 minutes.

Croque-Madame recipe

The only ingredient that needs to be added is an egg. And in this case it should be fried and then immediately placed on top of the sandwich. And voilà, you can enjoy the extra version of the Croque-Madame.

Which of the two quintessential French sandwiches will you choose first?

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