September 17th is National Monte Cristo Day, celebrating a sandwich that some people consider to be a fancy grilled ham and cheese sandwich on French toast.

More accurately, it is an American relative of the croque monsieur, the classic French grilled or baked ham-and-cheese sandwich.

Below:

> Monte Cristo, Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame: the difference.

> The Monte Cristo recipe.

> Croque variations.

> The history of the Monte Cristo sandwich.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of the sandwich.

> The different types of sandwiches: a photo glossary.

> The different types of bread: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 27+ sandwich holidays.

 
 
1. MONTE CRISTO, CROQUE MONSIEUR & CROQUE MADAME: THE DIFFERENCE

• Croque Monsieur Sandwich is a hot sandwich made with Bayonne ham (French ham) and Gruyère cheese on pain de mie (a white bread with a bit of the sweetness of brioche). The traditional recipe is topped with béchamel sauce and some grated cheese, then baked in the oven or broiled (photo #6).
• In French, croquer means “to crunch” or “to bite.” Croque monsieur is commonly rendered as “mister crunch” or “a man’s bite.”
• In some U.S. versions, a croque monsieur is dipped in an egg-and-milk mixture and sautéed in butter, giving the bread a French-toast-like exterior.
• Some cooks still use the old French recipe, but grill the sandwich instead of baking it in the oven, and then put under the broiler. Instead of béchamel, they use a cheese sauce, which in France is called mornay sauce—béchamel turned into cheese sauce with the addition of Gruyère. In the U.S., the cheese of choice is often Cheddar.
• Croque Madame Sandwich. The Croque Madame (photo #8) wasn’t created for the ladies; it was so-called because the egg on top resembles a woman’s hat (photo #8). It’s similar to a Croque Monsieur with a poached or fried egg on top. We don’t know when it was first created, but the name itself dates to around 1960 [source].
• Monte Cristo Sandwich is a variation made with white bread, ham and Gruyère, although some recipes substitute Gouda or other cheese. It has a sweet-and-savory profile: The sandwich is dipped in a French toast batter (eggs and milk), then pan-fried or deep-fried. It’s served with a side of grape jelly for dipping (or blackberry if you can find it), and often a dusting of powdered sugar (photo #1).
• Some cooks make a three-layer Monte Cristo, some add turkey. Here’s a copycat recipe of the Disneyland recipe (photo #1) and a copycat of the Bennigan’s recipe, which uses pancake batter (photo #2).
• Think outside the box. How about using pancakes instead of bread (photo #4)? How about some peanut butter (photo #5)? How about some bacon? How about some sliced tomatoes with that ham and cheese?

 
By the way: These sandwiches are best eaten with a fork and knife.
 
 
2. RECIPE: MONTE CRISTO SANDWICH

The sandwich is served with a side of jelly for dipping, and often garnished with powdered sugar. We’re not a fan of the latter. It just gets over everything (table and clothes). And who needs sugar on a ham and cheese?

While we prefer Gruyère cheese, as is used in the Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame, you can substitute Emmental, or America’s approximation of Emmental, a.k.a. Swiss cheese—or whatever you like. We’ve seen everything from Gouda to Provolone.

TIP: You can hold the sandwich layers with toothpicks. Add them before battering and frying.

Ingredients For 4 Triple-Decker Sandwiches

• 12 slices quality white bread or brioche
• 8 slices ham
• 8 slices turkey
• 8 slices Gruyère or substitute
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk or more (depending on how thick you want the batter)
• Optional for the batter: dash nutmeg
• Butter for frying

 
For Serving

• Grape jelly, or blackberry or raspberry jelly or jam, for dipping
• Powdered sugar for garnish

 
Preparation

1. WHISK the eggs and milk in a shallow pan. Melt the butter in a large skillet.

2. LAYER a slice of bread, cheese, ham, another slice of bread spread with mayonnaise, turkey, cheese, and then another slice of bread. Cut or fold the meats and cheese so they are contained within the borders of the bread. Press down so that the layers stick together, and use toothpicks to hold them.

3. MELT the butter in the skillet. Dip each sandwich in the milk and egg mixture, then transfer to the skillet. Cook until the bread is toasted on both sides and the cheese is melted.

4. CUT in half. Dust with powdered sugar if desired, and serve with the jelly/jam in a ramekin on the side.
 
 
4. CROQUE VARIATIONS

Up-and-coming chefs and restaurants can gain attention by putting their own twist on classic dishes. Common variations on the Croque Monsieur, listed in Wikipedia include:

• Croque Auvergnat*, made with bleu d’Auvergne cheese.
• Croque Bolognese, which adds Bolognese sauce (tomato sauce with ground meat—also commonly called the Croque Boum-Boum).
• Croque Gagnet†, made with Gouda cheese and andouille sausage (photo #8).
• Croque Hawaiian, with a slice of grilled pineapple.
• Croque Norvégien, made with smoked salmon instead of ham.
• Croque Poulet, which replaces the ham with grilled chicken.
• Croque Provençal, which includes a slice of tomato.
• Croque Señor, which adds salsa.
• Croque Tartiflette‡, which uses Reblochon cheese and adds sliced potatoes.

 
…and of course, the Croque Madame, previously described.

That’s a lot of croque for you to consider. You may like to create your own. We often make one with truffle cheese and chicken.
 
 
4. HISTORY OF THE CROQUE MONSIEUR SANDWICH & THE MONTE CRISTO

The origin of the Croque Monsieur is not known with certainty, but it is believed to have originated in French bistros and cafés as a quick snack. The name means, roughly, “a bite for a man,” from French words croque (bite) and monsieur (“mister”).

One of the first known written references is on a Parisian menu from 1910. It is cited in volume 2, Within a Budding Grove (published 1918), of Marcel Proust’s epic novel, In Search of Lost Time [source].

When there is no certainty, there are always apocryphal stories.

• The radiator. Some French workers left their lunches too close to a radiator. The heat melted the cheese and toasted the bread and the sandwich was born.
• The lack of baguette. A Parisian chef of a brasserie on the Boulevard des Capucines invented the sandwich one day in 1901, after running out of baguettes for the restaurant’s sandwich of the day. He took a loaf of pain de mie (similar to an American pullman loaf), sliced it, placed ham and cheese between the slices, buttered it and cooked it to crispiness. When a customer asked about the ingredients, the chef pointed to another customer, the butcher, and said “C’est la viande de monsieur” (It’s that man’s meat) [source].

 
Both the Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame remain popular lunchtime staples in France [source].

In recent years, different chefs and restaurants have put their own spins on the original Croque Monsieur recipe. See them below.

Decades Later Came The Monte Cristo Sandwich

According to old newspaper records cited in Wikipedia, the first documented reference to a “Monte Cristo Sandwich” was in an American restaurant industry publication in 1923.

There’s a common claim that it was developed in the 1960s in Southern California, but this is likely the belief that the sandwich was invented for Disneyland in Anaheim, which served a version of the original at the Blue Bayou Restaurant beginning in 1966, and at the Cafe Orleans in New Orleans Square [source].

But it existed long before then. No one knows exactly who created it and named it, but it happened somewhere in California.

• The 1924 Los Angeles Times recipe describes bread, cheese, ham, egg, and butter—no turkey, which someone added later.
• The “Delicious Disneyland” cookbook notes that the sandwich was served at New Orleans Square and was on the commissary menu at The Walt Disney Studios in 1940.
• One source claims that it was popular at California cafés in the 1950s, where it first appeared on a menu as The Monte (an especially suspect claim because the Monte Cristo name was already in print before the 1950s).
• An earlier source says that “Although there are no existing documents to support this, it is felt that the Monte Cristo Sandwich was first served in southern California in the 1950s.”
• From the 1930s to the 1960s, American cookbooks commonly had recipes for the Croque Monsieur, variously called “French sandwich,” “toasted ham sandwich,” and “French toasted cheese sandwich.”
• Today it’s on the menu as “Battered & Fried Cheese ‘Monte Cristo’ [served with Brie, Swiss and Mozzarella with Pommes Frites.”

[1] Kikkoman adds turkey to the ham and cheese, turns the Monte Cristo into a triple decker, and dips the battered sandwich into crunchy panko bread crumbs. Here’s the recipe (photo © Kikkoman).

[2] Bennigan’s dips their Monte Cristo in pancake batter. Here’s a copycat recipe (photo © I Am A Homesteader).

[3] It wouldn’t be a Monte Cristo without the dipping jelly. Here’s another recipe (photo © Taste And Tell Blog).

[4] Krusteaz thinks outside the box and makes a Monte Cristo with pancakes instead of bread (photo © The Nibble).

[5] Another variation: a slick of peanut butter on the bread suggested by Peter Pan, who calls their variation “The King Of Monte Cristo.” We’d call it Monte Cristo x PB&J (photo © Peter Pan).

[6] The original Croque Monsieur was baked in the oven with béchamel sauce and grated Gruyère. Here’s the recipe from Chef Michel Roux (photo © The Good Life France).

The Recipe Evolves

The original Monte Cristo sandwich is made from deli ham and Swiss cheese. The entire sandwich is then lightly dipped in the egg batter used for French Toast, and grilled or deep fried.

Who added the powdered sugar and jam?

The 1924 Los Angeles Times recipe describes bread, cheese, ham, egg, and butter—but no sugar or jam.

Over the next decades, someone added turkey, and someone transformed the Monte Cristo into the equivalent of turkey, ham and cheese French toast, garnished with a dusting of powdered sugar and a side of jam, jelly, or preserves (per our mother, “Only in America!”).

The Delicious Disneyland cookbook notes the sandwich was served at New Orleans Square, and that it was the sandwich was on the commissary menu at The Walt Disney Studios in 1940.

By at least 1966, Disneyland was serving the sandwich battered, deep-fried, dusted with powdered sugar, and accompanied by fruit preserves, helping to popularize this sweet-and-savory combination among park visitors.

Did someone at Disney invent this version? We can only guess.

The Count Of Monte Cristo?

Many of us have read the French novel, The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas.

No historical person was titled the Count of Monte Cristo. He is a fictional character, Edmond Dantès, the protagonist of the novel.

In the story, Dantès takes the title after acquiring immense treasure hidden on the small Italian island of Montecristo—literally “Mount of Christ.”

While the count is fiction, the island is real, a beautiful spot in the Tuscan Archipelago (west of Tuscany, Italy in the Tyrrhenian Sea, which flows into the Mediterranean.

Following the success of the novel, Alexandre Dumas built the Chateau de Monte-Cristo in Port-Marly, outside of Paris. It’s now a museum (photo #9).

And there’s the luxury Hôtel Monte Cristo in Paris, also inspired by the famous novel.

The sandwich’s name is likely a literary allusion.

In addition to numerous “talkies,” four silent-film adaptations predated the first one in 1934 (a smash hit starring Robert Donat). One, “Monte Cristo,” starring John Gilbert as Edmond Dantès, appeared in 1922—the year before the recipe was first published.

A tribute to a popular film? We can only conjecture.
 

†Although there are numerous references to the sandwiches, we (and A.I.) can’t find a reference for Gagnet. If a surname, it may have been that of the chef or the restaurant, lost to history. In French, the verb gagner means to win, earn, gain, or save.

†Although there are numerous references to the sandwich, we (and A.I.) can’t find a confirmed origin for Gagnet. It is a French surname, and may have been that of the chef or restaurant, lost to history. In French, the verb gagner means to win, earn, gain, or save.

‡Tartiflette is a dish from Savoy in the French Alps and from the Aosta Valley. It is made with potatoes, Reblochon cheese, lardons and onions.
 
 

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